[Regional health conferences: assessment, observations, risks, challenges and prospects].

The Public Health Bill of August 9 2004 established that regions are the optimal level for governing interventions. The new law resulted in the creation of the National Health Conference and the new Regional Health Conferences. The Permanent Assembly of the Regional Health Conferences was created in 2006 with a view to fostering closer relations between representatives of the 26 Regional Health Conferences. Three specific missions were officially devolved to the Regional Health Conferences. The object of this article is to provide an overview of these duties and to highlight the difficulties raised by their implementation, as well as their strengths. To conclude, the new Regional Health Conferences are discussed in the light of their recent work.