Newsletter - July 2022

1. Editorial
2. EUPHA update
3. European Public Health Conference
4. European Journal of Public Health
5. Interesting news
6. Upcoming courses and conferences
7. Interesting publications
8. European Commission news
9. European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control news
10. WHO news

1. Editorial

Welcome to the July issue of our newsletter with updates on what is going on in public health in Europe and beyond. We hope you have enjoyed/are enjoying your well-deserved summer break and are looking forward to restart your work feeling refreshed and healthy.  

Wishing you pleasant reading, 

Iveta Nagyova, EUPHA president and Dineke Zeegers Paget, EUPHA strategic advisor

2. EUPHA update

Mark your calendar: European Public Health Week - 23-26 May 2023!

Mark your calendars for this week, which aims to: 

• Make the case for public health and a more inclusive society across Europe.
• Raise awareness and amplify existing messages on five specific public health themes, in line with key organisations at European level.
• Create trust and innovative ways of collaboration among all professionals
  contributing to public health at local, national, regional and European level.

Looking forward to working with you next year!

EUPHA participates in new EHDS pilot project

EUPHA is proud to be one of the partners in the European Health Data Space (EHDS) pilot project, which was selected for funding by the European Commission last week. The creation of an EHDS is one of the key components of a strong European Health Union. The EHDS aims to promote better access and exchange of different types of health data for research and policy purposes, which is essential for achieving our vision: to enable everyone in Europe to achieve the highest possible level of health by providing independent and authoritative analysis of the evidence, combined with targeted advocacy to achieve coordinated action by all key stakeholders.
The project will kick off in September and aims to set up concrete foundations for the future EHDS. The consortium will be developing a network of data sources platforms, called nodes, by connecting the national platforms of participating countries, and it will evaluate the feasibility, interest and the capacity to deploy such an infrastructure throughout the EU. The new infrastructure will be put to the test through concrete research use cases. The goal is to demonstrate the potential of transnational reuse of health data for research, innovation, development of regulations and policies and, ultimately, personalised healthcare.
On May 3rd 2022, the European Commission presented its draft regulation aiming to create the EHDS, which will be discussed in the European Parliament and in the Council of the EU in parallel with the deployment of the pilot project. The aim is to have the EHDS up and running in 2025.
The project will be led by the French Health Data Hub and the consortium brings together sixteen partners in total, including partners from ten European countries and the ECDC and EMA. EUPHA’s role in the project will be focused on dissemination of the project’s results.
More information:

• Press release Health Data Hub
• Consortium video, including a statement by the Vice-President of the EUPHA section on Public Health Monitoring and Reporting, Hanna Tolonen
• Draft EHDS regulation

EUPHA's response to the European Commission's consultation on the European Health Data Space act

In July, EUPHA replied to the European Commission's consultation on the European Health Data Space act with the support of the EUPHA Public health monitoring and reporting section. EUPHA welcomes the establishment of the EHDS, and feels that the regulation proposal provides a solid basis for further discussion and development. In that further development, we urge to Commission to take into consideration various issues that, when not considered well and mitigated, could hamper the practical implementation and effectiveness of the EHDS.

3. European Public Health Conference

15TH EUROPEAN PUBLIC HEALTH CONFERENCE, 9 - 12 NOVEMBER 2022 - STRENGTHENING HEALTH SYSTEMS: IMPROVING POPULATION HEALTH AND BEING PREPARED FOR THE UNEXPECTED.

PLENARY PROGRAMME

Opening session: Strengthening health systems in Europe, Thursday 10 November, 11:40 – 12:40 CET. Moderators: Reinhard Busse, Chair of EPH Conference 2022, Verena Vogt, Chair of the International Scientific Committee. Speakers: Hans Kluge, WHO Regional Director for Europe, Stella Kyriakides, EU Commissioner for Health and Food Safety [tbc], Karl Lauterbach, Minister of Health, Germany [tbc]

Plenary 1: Can people afford to pay for health care? Evidence on inequity in financial protection in Europe. Organisers: WHO Regional Office for Europe, Thursday 10 November, 14:50 – 15:50 CET

Moderator: Natasha Azzopardi Muscat, WHO Regional Office for Europe. Speaker: Charles Normand, Trinity College Dublin, Ireland. Panellists: Sarah Thomson, WHO Regional Office for Europe, Kaisa Immonen, European Patients' Forum (EPF). More speakers to follow.

Plenary 2: Benefits and challenges of the European Health Data Space. Organisers: EUPHA, European Commission, Thursday 10 November, 17:40 – 18:40 CET

Moderators: Iveta Nagyova, EUPHA, Isabel de la Mata, European Commission. Speakers: Andrzej Rys, European Commission, Petronille Bogaert, Sciensano, Belgium, Irene Schlünder, TMF, Germany, Emmanuel Bacry, Health Data Hub, France

Plenary 3: Health Systems Performance Assessment for Policy: Uses and Abuses  / Measuring health system performance: using data to improve population health. Organisers: European Observatory on Health Systems and Policies, European Commission, Friday 11 November, 10:30 – 11:30 CET

Moderators: Dimitra Panteli, Observatory, Isabel de la Mata, European Commission

Speakers/Panellists: Reinhard Busse, Technical University Berlin, Germany, Irini Papanicolas, London School of Economics, United Kingdom, Jon Cylus, Observatory. More speakers to follow.

Plenary 4: Reorienting health services: the transformational potential of health promotion. Organiser: EuroHealthNet, Friday 11 November, 14:00 – 15:00 CET

Moderators: Martin Dietrich, Caroline Costongs, EuroHealthNet. Speakers: Rüdiger Krech, World Health Organization, Susan Michie, University College London, United Kingdom, Jan De Maeseneer, Chair European Commission Expert Panel on Effective Ways of Investing in Health, Jet Bussemaker, Council of Public Health & Society, Netherlands, Cristiano Figueiredo, NOVA University Lisbon, Portugal

Plenary 5: Sustaining high quality care: interprofessional training for our clinical and public health workforce. Organisers: ASPHER, EHMA, Saturday 12 November, 10:30-11:30 CET

Moderators: John Middleton, ASPHER. Speakers: Natasha Azzopardi Muscat, WHO Regional Office for Europe, George Valiotis, EHMA, Fatai Ogunlayi, UK Public Health Specialty Registrar. More speakers to follow.

Closing Ceremony of the 15th European Public Health Conference. Saturday 12 November, 15:00 – 15:45 CET

Moderators: Reinhard Busse, Chair of EPH Conference 2022, Verena Vogt, Chair of the International Scientific Committee. Speakers: Christian Drosten, Institute of Virology, Charité Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Germany, Dineke Zeegers Paget, Past Executive Director EUPHA

Anthony Staines, Chair of the 16th EPH Conference 2023

LUNCH SYMPOSIUMS

We are organising an exciting lunch symposiums programme during the extended lunch hours. No separate registration required. Just take your lunch to the breakout room and take part.

Thursday 10 November

• Enhancing pathways for vaccine assessments and national decision-making – a driver of resilient health systems, organised by VaccinesEurope
• EU Funding opportunities and procurement, organised by the European Commission

Friday 11 November

• How can mRNA science shape the future of public health?, organised by Moderna
• SHARP Joint Action - strengthening capacity in preparing for the unexpected, organised by SHARP Joint Action

More lunch symposiums will be announced shortly on our website.

PRE-CONFERENCES

Pre-conferences are held on Wednesday 9 November. The full programme can be found on our website. Pre-conferences are held for half day (morning or afternoon) or full day. Attending a pre-conference requires separate registration. This can be done while registering for the main conference but can also be added to your existing registration at a later time. Registration fees are €75 and €150. Sponsored pre-conferences are €20. (all sessions inclusive network buffet lunch).

• Evaluating implementation of public policy for the promotion of physical activity and healthy nutrition: Why, how and what should this involve. (PENP), organised by EUPHA Public health policy and politics section and EU-Policy Evaluation Network
• Addressing pre-existing and emerging mental health challenges in times of crisis and beyond – Strategies, approaches and practices from a European perspective (MENH), organised by Bundeszentrale für gesundheitliche Aufklärung (BZgA), Germany, and Gesundheit Österreich GmbH (GÖG), Austria
• Microsimulation models as a health policy decision support tool (ECON), organised by EUPHA Public health economics section
• Unravelling data for Rapid Evidence-Based Response to COVID-19 (unCoVer) (REBR), organised by Institute of Tropical Medicine (ITM), Antwerp, Belgium
• Skill building workshop: Using public health foresight to be better prepared for the future (FORE), organised by EUPHA Foresight section
• Bridging primary care and public health: revisiting the priorities of practitioners in the aftermath of COVID-19, organised by EUPHA Health services research section
• Health literacy and salutogenesis in context (LISA), organised by EUPHA Health promotion section with the BMBF Research Consortium Health Literacy in Childhood and Adolescence (HLCA) and German universities
• Precarious employment - harmonized definition and reporting in public health (PREM), organised by Precarious Work Research Consortium, Karolinska Institutet, Sweden
• Health systems responses to migration: from crisis mode to diversity-sensitive inclusive systems (MIGR), organised by Heidelberg University Hospital, Bielefeld University, EUPHA Migrant health section and Lancet Migration European Hub
• Natural experimental evaluations for public policy and health systems: recent advances and updated guidance (NEEV), organised by EUPHA Public health epidemiology, Public health economics and Health services research sections; in collaboration with the UK Medical Research Council and MRC/CSO Social and Public Health Sciences Unit, University of Glasgow, United Kingdom
• Methods and analytical strategies for longitudinal studies on social security, work and health (SSWH), organised by EUPHA Social security, work and health section (SSWH)

FULL PROGRAMME AVAILABLE

The full programme is available online here. Check out when you are scheduled for presentation. You can search by logging in and typing in your surname. Instructions for presenters (workshops, orals, pitches, posters) can be found here.

REGISTRATION IS OPEN WITH BENEFITS FOR EUPHA MEMBERS

More than 1,300 colleagues gave already registered. You can still benefit from early bird registration fees until 1 September. We are expecting over 1,500 delegates in Berlin. Meet your colleagues at the largest public health event in Europe during four fully packed conference days. EUPHA members and delegates from Germany pay € 670 before 1 September, non-members € 760, Students, trainees and colleagues from low- and middle-income countries pay € 400 (all including VAT). More information here 

PANDEMIC PREPAREDNESS

There are currently no restrictive measures for the event industry in place in Berlin. Event organizers are free to decide whether and how to make use of protective measures. For the EPH Conference 2022 we will follow the recommendations for responsible events to ensure our delegates can attend the conference safely. Current measures in Berlin can be followed in detail on the websites of VisitBerlin and the State of Berlin.

CONFERENCE VENUE

The 15th EPH Conference will be held in the hub27 Berlin, part of Messe Berlin. Hub27 is a modern, multifunctional conference centre with ample room for networking and meeting colleagues. It is easily accessed by U-Bahn and S-Bahn from all parts of Berlin. You can reach Berlin by train from everywhere in Europe. Long-distance high-speed trains arrive at and depart from the Hauptbahnhof. Flights to and from the new Berlin-Brandenburg International Airport (BER), 20 km from the city centre.

4. European Journal of Public Health

Advance articles - July 2022

Extreme heat leads to short- and long-term food insecurity with serious consequences for health
Carolin Kroeger, Aaron Reeves

Latent class trajectories of socioeconomic position over four time points and mortality: the Uppsala Birth Cohort Study
Muhammad Zakir Hossin, Amy Heshmati, Ilona Koupil, Anna Goodman, Gita D Mishra

Relation between the food environment and oral health—systematic review
Joreintje D Mackenbach, Elodie L Ibouanga, Monique H van der Veen, Kirsten A Ziesemer, Maria G M Pinho

The relationship between physical activity and severity of COVID-19 symptoms in non-hospitalized individuals
Alexandros Mitropoulos, Simon Goodwill, Robert Copeland, Markos Klonizakis

https://academic.oup.com/eurpub/advance-...

5. Interesting news

Health Policy Journal: COVID-19 Special Issue now available

European Observatory on Health Systems and Policies, 14 July 2022.

Report: Creating Better Health for People, the Planet, & Animals

Global Alliance For The Future Of Food | Report | 6 July 2022
The report Creating Better Health for People, Animals, and the Planet: Food Systems Insights for Health Professionals showcases 10 food-focused initiatives that have taken action to promote human, ecological, and animal health and well-being. From ​Brazil, ​Canada, France, Italy, the Netherlands, Nigeria, Taiwan, Thailand, Uganda, and the United States, the case studies in this report demonstrate how the health sector can play a critical role in food systems transformation.

European health projects meet to discuss European health data space proposal

TEHDAS | 5 July 2022
120 European health data specialists from 23 countries representing a wide range of projects and initiatives met to discuss the newly published European Commission’s proposal on the European health data space (EHDS), how the projects’ work might adapt in light of it, and the challenges they anticipate.

Quit Smoking Weapons of Mass Distraction

In this book, Simon Chapman reviews the early history of quitting smoking and the rise of assisted quitting, The book is a critical about the over-medicalisation of quitting, with chapters on vaping as the latest whatever-you-do-don’t-try-to-quit-unaided narrative.

Observatory Venice Summer School 2022 "Implementing innovation to transform health systems: examples from the Veneto and international perspectives

Held on 26 July
Observatory Venice Summer School 2022 “Implementing innovation to transform health systems: examples from the Veneto and international perspectives” (who.int)

Improving quality of care requires more than isolated mechanisms

European Observatory on Health Systems and Policies, 19 July 2022.

European Health Parliament Policy Recommendations

European Health Parliament | Recommendations | 6 July 2022
The European Health Parliament (EHP) is a Brussels-based movement connecting and empowering the next generation of European health leaders striving to rethink EU health policies. In 2022, five committees explored new solutions and formulated policy recommendations on five different health topics, all aiming at creating a resilient European Health Union.

TRIPS 'Waiver failure': EU betrayal of global south on vaccine access obscured by lack of transparency

Corporate Europe Observatory | 2 July 2022
"The approach the EU took to this crucial global debate was not only deeply Eurocentric, but has essentially seen the EU siding with, and advocating for, Big Pharma demands. Internationally renowned medical law expert Ellen ‘t Hoen wrote: “Let’s not forget that the waiver discussions at the WTO have their origins in the refusal of companies such as Pfizer and Moderna to share their Covid-19 vaccine manufacturing intellectual property, technology, and know-how.” "

Loud and Clear: Big Tobacco's Music Sponsorship Motives

STOP | Blog | 13 July 2022
The tobacco industry’s sponsorship of music festivals and online music events, videos and playlists seems to have a different goal: to expose younger people to its products. It’s not about philanthropy or creating goodwill—it’s about addicting a new generation on tobacco and nicotine to protect its future profits.

ASPHER President's message for July 2022 - Groundhog day: Climate emergency is with us again

ASPHER | 22 July 2022
In this piece, John Middleton and Tara Chen stress that we should be concerned that heatwaves are becoming more frequent, happening earlier and earlier each year, with higher temperatures every time. Meaningful climate action is needed now to protect the planet and the health of future generations.

6. Upcoming courses and conferences

7. Interesting publications

Health risks and health promotion among unemployed people

Open Access Journal International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, special issue.

Webinar recording: addressing backlogs and managing waiting lists during and beyond the COVID-19 pandemic- 6 July 2022

European Observatory on Health Systems and Policies.
Access more information and the recording here 

Lessons learned from the Covid 19 Health System Response Monitor (HSRM)

Health Policy | Special Issue 
The collection of papers in this Special Issue of Health Policy draws on the body of evidence gathered in the COVID-19 Health Systems Response Monitor (HSRM) and its network of international experts.

Belgium: health system summary

European Observatory on Health Systems and Policies, 22 June 2022

Norway: health system summary

European Observatory on Health Systems and Policies, 22 June 2022

Addressing backlogs and managing waiting lists during and beyond the COVID-19 pandemic

European Observatory on Health Systems and Policies, 6 July 2022

How can skill-mix innovations support the implementation of integrated care for people with chronic conditions and multimorbidity?

European Observatory on Health Systems and Policies, 18 July 2022.

Tobacco control: the FCTC provides the route to the finish line

The Lancet | Correspondence | 22 July 2022
Authors argue that failure to implement the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control is due to multiple challenges in moving tobacco control forward, the greatest of which is the tobacco industry, which works relentlessly to delay and weaken tobacco control policies, particularly in low-income and middle-income countries.

Abortion rights: history offers a blueprint for how pro-choice campaigners might usefully respond

The BMJ | Opinion | 26 July 2022
"Reproductive rights are fundamental to women’s health, safety, and autonomy. And if access to abortion is to be reinstated or expanded in both the United Kingdom and the United States, then healthcare professionals need to be led by, and work in collaboration with, feminist activists."

8. European Commission news

EU calls for tenders

Discover the currently open EU4Health calls for:

• Tenders on EU preparedness: training programmes for health specialists
  Deadline: 23 September 2022

• Tenders to support expert groups in the field of health
  Deadline: 7 October 2022

The list of upcoming calls for tenders is available here.

Mapping tax policies to reduce the consumption of alcohol and products high in fat, sugar, and salt

The third health programme has funded a study to map existing tax policies applicable to alcohol and products high in fat, sugar, and salt (HFSS).
The study provides a complete overview of existing fiscal measures and other pricing policies that aim to reduce the consumption of alcohol and of HFSS products (including non-alcoholic beverages) in countries participating in the EU health programme, Australia, Chile and the United States.  The study also identified best practices in view of supporting EU Member States considering an introduction of pricing policies and fiscal measures.

9. European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control news

ECDC and WHO produce risk communication and community engagement advice, toolkit for public health authorities and event organisers

ECDC and WHO have jointly produced a toolkit designed for public health authorities and event organisers with the aim of helping them collaborate with communities to inform people about monkeypox and how to protect their health during events over the summer.

Eurosurveillance - Volume 27, Issue 27, 07 July 2022

Rapid communication
A shift from travel-associated cases to autochthonous transmission with Berlin as epicentre of the monkeypox outbreak in Germany, May to June 2022
Outbreaks
Monkeypox outbreak predominantly affecting men who have sex with men, Madrid, Spain, 26 April to 16 June 2022
Surveillance
Using routine emergency department data for syndromic surveillance of acute respiratory illness, Germany, week 10 2017 until week 10 2021
Author's correction
Author's correction for Euro Surveill. 2022;27(25

Eurosurveillance - Volume 27, Issue 28, 14 July 2022

Rapid communication
Frequent detection of monkeypox virus DNA in saliva, semen, and other clinical samples from 12 patients, Barcelona, Spain, May to June 2022
Research
Epidemiological and microbiological investigation of a large increase in vibriosis, northern Europe, 2018

Eurosurveillance - Volume 27, Issue 29, 21 July 2022

Rapid communication
Paediatric monkeypox patient with unknown source of infection, the Netherlands, June 2022
Early start of seasonal transmission and co-circulation of West Nile virus lineage 2 and a newly introduced lineage 1 strain, northern Italy, June 2022
Perspective
Integrated use of laboratory services for multiple infectious diseases in the WHO European Region during the COVID-19 pandemic and beyond
Miscellaneous
Job vacancy at ECDC

Core competencies in applied infectious disease epidemiology in Europe

In 2009, ECDC published its report ‘Core competencies for EU public health epidemiologists in communicable disease surveillance and response’. As over ten years have now passed, it was important to update the core competencies in applied infectious disease epidemiology to reflect new approaches to public health practice and education, and to integrate the latest requirements, highlighted in the literature.

10. WHO news

A health perspective on the role of the environment in One Health

While One Health traditionally focuses on communicable diseases – such as zoonoses – and diseases caused by antimicrobial-resistant pathogens and unsafe food, this report investigates the role of the environment, from the health perspective, focusing on animal-mediated diseases. It examines how the environment is affected by anthropogenic global stressors including land use change, biodiversity loss, climate change and environmental pollution of soil, water and air, which in turn increase the risks to human health.

Cancer and cardiovascular health inequities in prison settings: a rapid literature review

This report describes a rapid review to assess inequities in cancer and cardiovascular disease care in prisons.  The main findings suggest that prison health screening programmes can improve health and reduce costs for health systems.

Statement: Vaccines alone won't end the monkeypox outbreak - at-risk individuals will have to take action too

Statement by Dr Hans Henri P. Kluge, WHO Regional Director for Europe
In this statementm Dr Hans Kluge insists on the fact that the responsibility for stopping this outbreak is necessarily a joint responsibility, shared among health institutions and authorities, governments, and affected communities and individuals themselves.  

World report on the health of refugees and migrants

This publication outlines current and future opportunities and challenges and provides several strategies to improve the health and well-being of refugees and migrants. It is an advocacy tool for national and international policy-makers involved in health and migration.

WHO releases global COVID-19 vaccination strategy update to reach unprotected

WHO has published an update to the Global COVID-19 Vaccination Strategy today, in response to the spread of Omicron subvariants, advances in vaccine evidence, and lessons from the global vaccination program.

The state of food security and nutrition in the world 2022

A key message of the report is that current government support to the food and agricultural sectors is often not aligned with the promotion of healthy diets. This report shows how re-aligning food and agriculture policies can increase access to nutritious foods and make food systems more healthy, equitable and sustainable.

WHO Director-General declares the ongoing monkeypox outbreak a Public Health Emergency of International Concern

On July 23, the WHO Director-General declared the escalating global monkeypox outbreak a Public Health Emergency of International Concern (PHEIC). Currently, the vast majority of reported cases are in the WHO European Region. WHO/Europe remains committed to partnering with countries and communities to address the outbreak with the required urgency.

This newsletter  is co-funded by the European Union. Views and opinions expressed are however those of the author(s) only and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union or. Neither the European Union nor the granting authority can be held responsible for them.

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