Dear EUPHA Public Health Economics (EUPHA-ECO) members,

We have compiled a newsletter to conclude 2025 with information on the EPH conference in Helsinki that happened in early November, news on health systems, policy, and prevention collected across other sources, recent funding calls, and some recently published papers.

As always, feel free to share further updates, positions and papers with us!.

Recap of the EPH conference 2025 (11-14 November 2025)

We had a great time chatting and discussing during the 18th European Public Health Conference in Helsinki! A special thanks and warm welcome also to everyone who attended the “Join-the-network” Meeting and got in touch (see below!).

Our section was very well represented in the conference program, and it was a busy but very rewarding week for us. Our pre-conference on causal inference and synergies with simulation modeling was a big success and attracted a large and diverse audience. Additionally, we contributed to and co-organized several round tables, scientific sessions, workshops, and poster walks. A particular highlight that left a lot of food for thought was our round table on the well-being economy during which we had a lively exchange and discussed with the audience in a very open format.

Throughout the conference and particularly after our great network meeting we truly had the impression that public health economics as a sub-discipline, way of thinking, analytical lens – however you may call it – is gaining traction and needs to be part of the public health policy toolbox. We believe that public health is at its best if it embraces its foundational interdisciplinary nature and economics as a social science is part of that.

We look ahead on an exciting next year and really appreciate the strong engagement across all our activities during EPH in Helsinki. Our section is ever expanding, and we encourage everyone who wants to actively engage to reach out to us at eupha.public.health.economics@gmail.com! We are a largely self-organized network and depend on our curious and motivated members to move public health research, scientific exchange, and cross-disciplinary collaboration forward.

Having said this, there will be many opportunities to get involved in the coming months, from informal exchanges, to webinars, and possibly a winter school for early-career researchers (stay tuned!).

Thank you and see you soon

News on health systems, policies, and prevention

• Country Health Profiles 2025 were launched by the European Commission, together with the European Observatory on Health Systems and Policies and the OECD, as part of the State of Health in the EU The profiles provide concise, comparable overviews of population health, risk factors, and health system organisation and performance across all EU Member States (plus Iceland and Norway), with a strong policy focus on access, effectiveness, resilience, and pharmaceuticals.
• The European Commission has proposed a EU health package to make the bloc’s health sector more innovative, competitive and resilient, focusing on three core initiatives: a Biotech Act to strengthen Europe’s biotechnology industry and accelerate investment, research and clinical trials; a Safe Hearts Plan to tackle cardiovascular diseases through enhanced prevention, early detection and treatment; and simplified EU rules for medical devices to reduce costs, speed up conformity assessments and ensure reliable patient access, while maintaining high safety standards. These measures aim to boost healthcare innovation, improve outcomes for citizens, and support long-term resilience and competitiveness in the EU health ecosystem.
• European Court of Justice upholds the Directive on adequate minimum wages The Court of Justice of the European Union has rejected Denmark’s bid to annul the Directive on adequate minimum wages. Adopted in 2022, the Directive provides an EU-wide framework to ensure adequate minimum wage protection through statutory wages or collective agreements. The Court confirmed the Directive’s legal validity and that it does not interfere with national competence to set wage levels. However, it annulled two provisions on binding criteria for statutory minimum wages and automatic indexation, ruling that these exceeded EU competence. The European Commission is assessing the impact of the ruling and notes that minimum wages have risen across Europe since 2022, improving living standards. Adequate minimum wages and financial security are essential to reduce social inequalities in health, as demonstrated in the latest EuroHealthNet-CHAIN report.

• The Lancet unveils a three-paper series on the health, cultural, and environmental impacts of UPFs The Lancet has published three papers showing that ultra-processed foods (UPFs) have become dominant in global diets, driving obesity and chronic disease and harming economies, cultures, and the environment. The series details how industry promotes UPFs over nutritional and environmental concerns. The authors argue that public health education and individual behaviour change are insufficient; governments must regulate the UPF industry. They propose coordinated policies to reduce UPF consumption and expand access to fresh, minimally processed foods.

• Expert Review of Pharmacoeconomics & Outcomes Research has recently published an article collection on “the economic assessment of prevention” edited by Prof Mickael Hiligsmann, EUPHA-ECO Steering Committee member. (https://www.tandfonline.com/journals/ierp20/collections/economic-assessment-of-prevention). This collection includes several methodological and applied work on the economic assessment of prevention.
• Spotlight: Climate impacts on health — insights from Spain. Heat waves, wildfires and flooding are no longer future risks — they are already affecting health across Spain, with urban areas hit hardest. Recent reflections from experts, including Manuel Franco, President of the EUPHA Urban Public Health Section and Chair of the 2026 EPH Conference in Bilbao, highlight how climate-driven hazards are widening health inequalities and placing growing pressure on local health systems. The message is clear: strengthening preparedness, prevention and urban resilience must be central to Europe’s public-health agenda. Read the full interview on Cadena SER (in Spanish)

Funding calls

GHLORA Call – Call for research projects in global health, including pilot projects and post-doc fellowships (Deadline for first stage project outlines: January 15th 2026)

ERA4Health – Prevent-OO – Understanding and Preventing Overweight and Obesity – Mechanisms of their onset and progression, neglected determinants and novel strategies for critical transitional periods in life (Deadline for pre-poposals: January 21st 2026)

EU Horizon 2026-2027 work programmes – New Horizon Europe Cluster Health launched!

Job positions

Permanent, full-time Associate Professor/Professor of Health Economics position, based at the Universitetet i Bergen (UiB) in Bergen, Norway (Link)

Permanent, full-time (W3) Professor in Quantitative Methods, Health and Medical University Potsdam, Campus Munich (Link)

Do not hesitate to share with us for more information about the open positions.

Recent papers

Auld, M. Christopher, Eli P. Fenichel, and Flavio Toxvaerd. 2025. “The Economics of Infectious Diseases.” Journal of Economic Literature 63 (4):1281–1330.

Bjureberg J, Ojala O, Rasmusson B, Malmgren J, Hellner C, Sampaio F, Flygare O. Cost-Effectiveness of Internet-Delivered Emotion Regulation Therapy for Adolescents With Nonsuicidal Self-Injury: Within-Trial Analysis of a Randomized Controlled Trial. JMIR Ment Health. 2025 Aug 27;12:e74303. doi: 10.2196/74303.

Chen, Tiange et al. Health and economic effects of increased taxation on tobacco, alcohol, and sugar-sweetened beverages in China: a modelling study. The Lancet Public Health, Volume 10, Issue 12, e1025 – e1035

Flores S, Jónsson-Bachmann E, Ingesson-Hammarberg S, Hammarberg A, Nystrand C, Sampaio F. A cost-effectiveness analysis of two psychological treatments for controlled drinking in individuals alcohol use disorder. Cost Eff Resour Alloc. 2025 Jun 2;23(1):24. doi: 10.1186/s12962-025-00633-9.

Goncalves AS, Prata AP, McCourt C, Ssegonja R, Sampaio F. Economic evaluation and budget impact analysis of midwifery-led care for low-risk pregnancies in Portugal. Women Birth. 2025 Sep 29;38(6):102109. doi: 10.1016/j.wombi.2025.102109. Epub ahead of print.

Hauber B, Hiligsmann M. Preference research is underutilized in health prevention. Expert Rev Pharmacoecon Outcomes Res. 2025 Nov;25(9):1249-1254

Santos AR, von Hafe F, Sampaio F, Londral AR, Perelman J. Mapping Methodologies for Economic Evaluation of Digital Health Technologies: A Scoping Review. Value Health. 2025 Sep 25:S1098-3015(25)02569-0. doi: 10.1016/j.jval.2025.09.012. Epub ahead of print.

Stronks K, Rod MH, Rutter H, Rod NH. Towards a complex systems model of evidence for public health. BMJ Global Health. 2025;10:e021061.

Wouterse B, Santos JV, Hiligsmann M. Future directions for the economics of prevention. Expert Rev Pharmacoecon Outcomes Res. 2025 Jul;25(6):841-844

We are interested in knowing what you are working on! Let us know if you would like us to share your recent publications.

Karl Emmert-Fees, MSPH, PhD (LinkedIn) – EUPHA-ECO Steering Committee member

João Vasco Santos, MD MPH PhD (LinkedIn) – EUPHA-ECO President

Vanessa Gorasso, MSc (LinkedIn) – EUPHA-ECO Vice-President

Mickael Hiligsmann, PhD (LinkedIn) – EUPHA-ECO Steering Committee member

Filipa Sampaio, PhD (LinkedIn)  – EUPHA-ECO Steering Committee member