Newsletter - April 2018

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

1. Editorial

Welcome to our April newsletter, including information from EUPHA, EUPHA members, European Commission, ECDC and WHO. We hope the information is useful to further your work.

EUPHA has been active this month in advocacy and policy briefs, including an update on the Sustainable Development Goals' health impact in Europe (the Sustainable Health Goals) and our members' views on the future issues in public health in Europe. 

To be in line with the new privacy rules in the European Union, EUPHA has set up privacy rules: https://eupha.org/privacy-policy. If you wish to continue receiving our newsletter, no action is required. If you wish to discontinue, please go to our newsletter subscription service: https://eupha.org/newsletter_subscription.php.  

If you have any information to add to the newsletter, please send the information to EUPHA office.

Wishing you pleasant reading, 

Natasha Azzopardi-Muscat, EUPHA president, and Dineke Zeegers Paget, EUPHA executive director

2. EUPHA update

EUPHA Statement on the Sustainable Health Goals in the European region

Some 2,5 years after the adoption of the Sustainable Development Goals, we wonder how Europe and European countries are doing. We raise the question – how is Europe progressing towards the health-related Sustainable Development Goals – or even better – how is Europe progressing towards what we might call the Sustainable Health Goals? Read our findings in the EUPHA statement on the Sustainable Health Goals in the European region.

British American Tobacco replies

In March 2018 we wrote to British American Tobacco and Philip Morris, following court orders in the USA requiring them to issue corrective statements to inform the American public about how these companies had misled them for decades. BAT has now replied, rejecting our request. We publish its letter here. We make observations:
First, BAT makes no attempt to respond to the specific concerns that led to the US judgement, relating to misleading the public. It seems that we are to believe that, even if the tobacco industry sought to undermine the evidence on smoking-related harm and the addictive nature of nicotine in the USA, it did not do so in Europe.
Second, despite seeking recourse when possible to international trade agreements as it seeks to circumvent national laws on tobacco control, it relies on the territorial limitations of American jurisprudence to reject our request.
In both cases, our members can judge these arguments for themselves. Our view is that they provide more evidence on why, as set out in Article 5.3 of the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control, the tobacco industry and those it funds should always be excluded from discussions on any aspect of tobacco control.

Statement of EUPHA President at WHO high-level meeting 'Health Systems Respond to NCDs: Experience in the European Region'

On 16 April 2018 the EUPHA president, Natasha Azzopardi Muscat, presented a statement at the high-level meeting of the World Health Organisation European Region ‘Health Systems Respond to NCDs: Experience of the European Region’, in Sitges Spain. At the plenary session ‘towards people-centred integrated services’ she talked about how we implement strategies to accelerate making health services more people centred and which challenges need to be overcome. Read her speech here.

Join the TO-REACH online consultation

What do you consider the most important priorities in European health research? Please provide your opinion.
This open online consultation has been launched by the TO-REACH project, where EUPHA is a partner, in order to shape a joint European research agenda in this area.
The survey is availble at to-reach.eu/survey. Feel free to distrubute this survey further.
The survey will be open until 13 May 2018.

A short overview of the results of the EUPHA members' questionnaire on threats to public health

A short overview of the results of the EUPHA members’  questionnaire of October 2016 are now available on this website. Members of the European Public Health Association (EUPHA) were asked what they believe the major public health threats in Europe in the next decade will be. They were invited to identify the main public health issues that, in their opinion, could pose a threat to children and young persons (0-19 years), adults (20-60 years), and the elderly (60+ years). This allowed EUPHA to gain a better insight into future public health issues allowing us to advocate for a more effective and well-founded (re)distribution of resources for primary and secondary prevention. The results also clearly emphasize the importance of a European approach to public health, as many – if not all – of the listed threats can be targeted through supranational policy measures, exchange of good practices and sharing of knowledge of evidence-informed interventions.

EUPHA is proud to be a co-signer of the EU4Health statement prepared for the informal EPSCO of Health Ministers in the European Union

The vision for health in the EUropean Union: We believe that a Europe where all people are as healthy as they can be throughout their lives is possible. A Europe that promotes well-being for all people of all ages, and where people can live, work and age in sustainable and healthy environments. A Europe that supports timely access to affordable, high quality healthcare for all.

Our common asks from the European Commission: The Lisbon Strategy includes a target of adding two healthy life years on average across the EU by 2020 - a target that still needs to be met. We need strong political leadership from the European Commission to achieve this goal. This requires a Commission Vice-President and a Directorate General dedicated to health,to ensure that health protection and promotion is guaranteed across all European Commission portfolios. Strong leadership on health will resonate with European citizens1 and bring the EU closer to them, restoring people’s trust in the EU institutions. The Lisbon Strategy includes a target of adding two healthy life years on average across the EU by 2020 - a target that still needs to be met. We need strong political leadership from the European Commission to achieve this goal. This requires a Commission Vice-President and a Directorate General dedicated to health, to ensure that health protection and promotion is guaranteed across all European Commission portfolios. Strong leadership on health will resonate with European citizens1 and bring the EU closer to them, restoring people’s trust in the EU institutions.

Please click here for the statement.

1st World Congress on Migration, Ethnicity, Race and Health - Abstract Supplement

This abstract supplement to the European Journal of Public Health is now available online. 
The 1^st World Congress on Migration, Ethnicity, Race and Health (MERH) focuses on the health implications of the movement and diversity of people around the globe within broad historical, political, social and environmental contexts in association with EUPHA, University of Edinburgh and NHS Scotland.

3. European Public Health Conference

One more day to submit your abstracts for Ljubljana 2018

The deadline for abstract and workshop submission for Ljubljana 2018 is close, very close. The online submission system will close on 1 May at 12:00 CET. 
At the moment, 58 countries have already submitted about 650 abstracts and 45 workshops and we are still counting. 

If you are still interested in submitting your work to this prestigious conference, do it today!

https://ephconference.eu/ljubljana-2018-...

New Staff at EUPHA and EPH Conference Officer

We welcome Robert Klarecki who started working for EUPHA and EPH Conference in February 2018. Some of you might have met him during the EPH Conference at Lodz, Poland, for which he was the Conference Manager on behalf of the Polish Local Organizing Committee.

With his background in international relations he received his PhD in political science at the University of Warsaw. He worked in private and public sector where he dealt with different EU projects. Most of his career was connected with organizing meetings, workshops, seminars and conferences, including the 42nd Congress of the European Societies of Toxicology (EUROTOX2005), 2nd Joint European Public Health Conference (EPH 2009), 16th European Health Forum Gastein, conferences of the Polish Society of Occupational Medicine, workshops and conferences of the EU Network of Excellence Environmental Cancer Risk, Nutrition and Individual Susceptibility, and many, many others.

4. EUPHA members update

NPHF: one more step towards the 'subscription for health'

In order to push forward the so-called  ‘vitality contract’, intended to offer concrete steps for a healthier lifestyle for a minimum contribution by the individual, the director of the Netherlands Public Health Federation (NPHF), Thomas Plochg, is offering health care insurers another option for economic gain. The NPHF has been pushing the concept ‘from care to health promotion’ to further a positive view on health. For more information, please visit the website of the NPHF. 

ASPHER: The 1st Andrija Stampar Summer school

Our European partner, ASPHER, is organising the 1st Andrija Stampar Summer school from 12-24 August in Ashkelon, Israel. The theme of the summer school is: The new public health: principles and practices. 
The summer schools is intended for junior and mid-career teachers and researchers of schools of public health.

5. European Journal of Public Health

The European Journal of Public Health is a multidisciplinary journal in the field of public health.

The EJPH is published bimonthly. The journal provides a forum for discussion and debate of current international public health issues with a focus on the European region. In 2017, the impact factor of the journal is at 2.431. The 5-year impact factor is 2.664.

The EJPH is the official journal of EUPHA. 

Risk factors for persisting measles susceptibility: a case-control study among unvaccinated orthodox Protestants

Emotional salience of the image component facilitates recall of the text of cigarette warning labels

Who wants to cross borders in the EU for healthcare? An analysis of the Eurobarometer data in 2007 and 2014

Alcohol industry corporate social responsibility initiatives and harmful drinking: a systematic review

Burden of disease studies in the WHO European Region--a mapping exercise

6. Call for proposals, job opportunities

Public Health Panorama calls for the submission of papers for a themed issue on primary health care: principles in practice towards universal health coverage

Public Health Panorama calls for the submission of papers for a themed issue on primary health care: principles in practice towards universal health coverage. It will be published in December 2018 following the 40th anniversary of the Declaration of Alma-Ata, which will be celebrated with week-long events culminating in an anniversary conference on 25–26 October in Kazakhstan. Deadline for submissions 20-06-2018.

Noncommunicable diseases: a call for papers

The Bulletin of the World Health Organization will publish a theme issue on noncommunicable diseases. The deadline for submission is 15 July 2018. 

Special issue on advanced diagnostics to inform public health policy - deadline extended to 13 May 2018

Eurosurveillance invites authors to submit papers in the categories, Research articles, Surveillance and Outbreak reports, Reviews and Perspectives for a special issue on advanced diagnostics to inform public health policy. The submission deadline has been extended to 13 May 2018.

European Health Award 2018

The European Health Forum Gastein is welcoming applications for the European Health Award. Applications for the Award will close on Monday, 28th May 2018.

Financial support is available to local level civil society groups

As part of the project Make Europe Sustainable for All, financial support is available to local level civil society groups campaigning on the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

Call for tender concerning the EU dimension to prevent alcohol related harm open through 25 May 2018

The Consumers, Health, Agriculture and Food Executive Agency call is to follow up on the Standardised European Alcohol Survey to support the Member States' capacity building in the area of alcohol policy and to prepare a pilot implementation of alcohol brief interventions.

7. Interesting news

Conclusions from the conference "Healthy Future for Europe: Healthy Nutrition for Children" , a part of the calendar within the Bulgarian Presidency of the Council of the EU (6 February 2018, Sofia)

On February 6, 2018 a conference under the title “Healthy Future for Europe: Healthy Nutrition in Children“, a part of the calendar within the Bulgarian Presidency was held in the National Palace of Culture, Sofia, Bulgaria. In the link you can read the conclusions of this conference. 

How's the air in London? 'We should be worried'

Toxic air in London has been at illegal levels since 2010, and for a brief period last year, air pollution here was worse than Beijing’s, according to statistics published by the London mayor’s office.
United Kingdom

How do you get teens to stop cellphone use while driving? Survey says, show them the money

Teens who admit to texting while driving may be convinced to reduce risky cellphone use behind the wheel when presented with financial incentives such as auto-insurance apps that monitor driving behavior, according to a new survey. However, while more than 90 percent of teens surveyed said they were willing to give up sending or reading text messages, almost half indicated that they would want to retain some control over phone functions such as music and navigation.

Ebola media coverage impacted how the public perceived the disease and survivors

In 2014, the United States saw fatal cases of Ebola for the first time. The disease had been mostly contained to West Africa, and U.S. media coverage of the disease in the past had been limited. Now, researchers have found that news coverage of Ebola during the time it was in the U.S. focused on telling individual stories to humanize those affected. Based on these findings, the researchers suggest that reporters covering health crises might have a greater positive impact on their audiences if they write human interest stories that share helpful information.

Saving lives: Swapping cars for shared bicycles

The 12 largest bicycle sharing systems in European cities offer health and economic benefits. Currently, the use of shared bicycles by people who previously used their cars avoids 5 deaths and saves 18 million euros per year in those cities. If all public bicycle trips were made by previous car users, 73 deaths and 226 million euros would be saved every year in the 12 cities. These are the conclusions of a new study by the Barcelona Institute for Global Health (ISGlobal), an institution supported by the "la Caixa" Foundation.
Spain

Invitation: International Festival of Public Health

The International Festival of Public Health, hosted by the EUPHA Section on Urban Public Health, is back for a 7th year. This conference attracts approximately 400 national and international delegates each year. It is a mixture of civil society, patient groups, voluntary organisations, local authority, NHS, community sector and academics. We wanted this to be a space where we can get lively conversations on the relevant topics of the day from many different viewpoints.
Full details of previous speakers and other details for the conference, are available on our website.
The theme of this year's Festival is Health and Social Care’. We are asking for your help to be able to showcase your excellent work on a global platform. Abstract submission does not have to be confined to this subject and there will be no weighting applied to this topic when abstracts are chosen. Abstracts can be for poster, oral, workshops and networking events. They will be advertised through our dissemination activities including twitter @festivalofPH #PHFest2018. You can register and submit abstracts online at http://www.festivalofpublichealth.co.uk/abstractsubmission/ and the deadline for abstract submission is Monday 7 May 2018.
For all our friends at EUPHA, I am pleased to confirm that registration is offered at the subsidised rate of £20 for the whole day including refreshments and lunch! Please register here by 21st May 2018 to avoid the higher charges. Further details about the day and the exciting plenary speakers we have lined up will be announced over the next couple of months.

BMJ: Editor's choice: Better care for patients with cancer

Fiona Godlee, The BMJ
For many people, cancer is now survivable and has become a long term condition. This week our clinical update reminds us to think about the psychological impact for the growing number of people living with cancer (doi:10.1136/bmj.k1415). As Alexandra Pitman and colleagues explain, depression and anxiety are more common in cancer survivors than in the general population and can occur at all stages of the cancer journey, whether as part of the initial presentation or after a patient is discharged from active management, when the intense schedule of tests and treatment comes to a sudden end.
As well as the more obvious situational causes of depression and anxiety (such as fear and uncertainty about the future) we need to be aware that certain tumours and cancer treatments can directly affect mood. Pancreatic and small cell lung cancers come in for special mention, as do steroids and radiotherapy to the head and neck or gut. Our visual summary (https://www.bmj.com/content/bmj/suppl/2018/04/25/bmj.k1415.DC1/pita038917.wi.pdf) shows the wide range of possible effects of cancer or its treatment on the brain, and writing as a patient with cancer Caroline Carling emphasises the benefits of psychological support (“Patient’s Perspective,” doi:10.1136/bmj.k1415).....

People living near fast food outlets more likely to develop heart disease, study shows

BMJ 2018; 361 doi: https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.k1800 (Published 24 April 2018)Cite this as: BMJ 2018;361:k1800

People living in urban areas with one or more fast food outlets within 1 km of their home are significantly more likely to develop cardiovascular disease (CVD) and coronary heart disease (CHD) than those living in areas with no fast food outlets, a nationwide study in the Netherlands has reported.1

The availability of fast food—which generally consists of processed meat and refined carbohydrates and is high in salt, saturated fat, and calories—has increased dramatically in European countries over the past few years. Previous studies looking at links between the density of fast food outlets and heart disease have shown mixed results but …

https://www.bmj.com/content/361/bmj.k180...

EuroHealthNet: Video on EU action on health #EU4Health

EuroHealthNet has produced a short video on the need for EU action on health which covers the links between health, economic development, and social cohesion. We hope it will be a useful resource to raise awareness of both the campaign and the issues. There are two versions: One long (2 mins) and one short (1.34 mins). Both include the #EU4Health hashtag. Please do watch and share!

8. Upcoming courses and conferences

Going International is the first source for finding courses, seminars, congresses and other events in the fields of medicine & health. Going International is Europe’s biggest service provider and information platform and serves as an interface between organisers and participants of events. Going International is an official partner of EUPHA.

9. Interesting publications

2018 must be the year for action against NCDs

https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lance...

Health care-seeking patterns for female genital mutilation/cutting among young Somalis in Norway

Equity impacts of price policies to promote healthy behaviours

Overweight adolescents' views on physical activity - experiences of participants in an internet-based intervention: a qualitative study

A cost-effectiveness analysis of a community based CVD program in Sweden based on a retrospective register cohort

Prevention of vaccine-matched and mismatched influenza in children aged 6-35 months: a multinational randomised trial across five influenza seasons

https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lanch...

The silent burden of stigmatisation: a qualitative study among Dutch people with a low socioeconomic position 

Responses to textual and pictorial cigarette pack health warnings: findings from an exploratory cross-sectional survey study in Austria

Employment stability and mental health in Spain: towards understanding the influence of gender and partner/marital status

The association between balance and free-living physical activity in an older community-dwelling adult population: a systematic review and meta-analysis

Taxes for health: evidence clears the air

https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lance..

Severity and susceptibility: measuring the perceived effectiveness and believability of tobacco health warnings

https://bmcpublichealth.biomedcentral.co...

Physical activity, sedentary time and sleep duration: associations with body composition in 10-12-year-old Estonian schoolchildren

Smoking among immigrant groups in metropolitan France: prevalence levels, male-to-female ratios and educational gradients

Investing in non-communicable diseases: an estimation of the return on investment for prevention and treatment services

https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lance...

Year-round effects of a four-week randomized controlled trial using different types of feedback on employees' physical activity

Action to address the household economic burden of non-communicable diseases

https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lance...

An observational study of immigrant mortality differences in Norway by reason for migration, length of stay and characteristics of sending countries

Parents' perspectives of change in child physical activity & screen-viewing between Y1 (5-6) & Y4 (8-9) of primary school: implications for behaviour change

Causes of death among children aged 5-14 years in the WHO European Region: a systematic analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2016

Indicators for evaluating European population health: a Delphi selection process

Textual health warning labels on snus (Swedish moist snuff): do they affect risk perception?

Mass media and risk factors for cancer: the under-representation of age

Legalized medical cannabis lowers opioid use, study finds

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/20...

It's time for a change of message, it's time for #GunSafetyNow

http://http://www.thelancet.com/journals...

Addressing Social Determinants to Improve Patient Care and Promote Health Equity: An American College of Physicians Position Paper

Health Equity Report 2017

10. European Commission news

DG SANTE launched 'Best Practice Portal'

The best practice portal on health promotion, diseases prevention and management of non-communicable diseases is online now. It brings together good practices collected in previous Health Programme actions in the different fields: nutrition, physical activity, mental health, health inequalities, reducing alcohol related harm and integrated care. It also allows submission of practices for evaluation to select the "best". All practices assessed as "best" will be shared with the Member States' Steering Group on Health Promotion, Disease Prevention and Management of Non-Communicable Diseases.

Helping young people say no to tobacco: Commission launches EU Health Award for NGOs

On 7 April, the European Commission launches the EU Health Award for NGOs 2018. This year, we aim to reward NGOs that contribute to the fight against tobacco, especially by stopping young people from taking up smoking and/or using other forms of tobacco.

Statement by Commissioner for Health and Food Safety, Vytenis Andriukaitis ahead of World Health Day 2018: 'Universal Healthcare for all'

"Access to healthcare for all is one of the major achievements of post-Second World War Europe bringing to reality the idea that all human beings, rich or poor, should benefit from quality medical care without worry that their illness would bankrupt their family..."

Fight against cancer: Joint Action Kick-off Meeting, Luxembourg, 16-17 April, 2018

The kick-off meeting of the Joint Action on Innovative Partnership for Action against Cancer (IPPAC) took place 16-17 April in Luxembourg in the presence of the European Commissioner for Health and Food Safety Vytenis Andriukaitis.

Steering Europe towards a healthier future by reducing the burden of non-communicable diseases

"Steering Europe towards a healthier future by reducing the burden of non-communicable diseases." Deputy Director-General for Health and Food Safety Martin Seychell discusses the Steering Group he chairs on Health Promotion, Disease Prevention and Management of Non-Communicable Diseases.

EU legislation makes Blood, Tissues and Cells safer, but needs to keep pace with developments, Public Consultation finds

The open public consultation evaluating the EU legal frameworks on blood, tissues and cells has found that that the majority of the respondents, who included both individual citizens and various groups, such as professional societies, donor and patient organisations and national authorities, consider that the legislation had made blood, tissues and cells safer in the EU.

11. European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control news

EU Laboratory Capability Monitoring System (EULabCap): Report on 2016 survey of EU/EEA country capabilities and capacities

Eurosurveillance - Volume 23, Issue 14, 05 April 2018

Surveillance and outbreak report
West Nile virus outbreak in humans and epidemiological surveillance, west Andalusia, Spain, 2016

Systematic Review
The effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of screening for active tuberculosis among migrants in the EU/EEA: a systematic review
The effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of screening for latent tuberculosis among migrants in the EU/EEA: a systematic review

Eurosurveillance - Volume 23, Issue 15, 12 April 2018

Rapid communication
Case of seasonal reassortant A(H1N2) influenza virus infection, the Netherlands, March 2018
 
Surveillance and outbreak report
A cluster of two human cases of tick-borne encephalitis (TBE) transmitted by unpasteurised goat milk and cheese in Germany, May 2016
 
Research article
Genomic non-coding regions reveal hidden patterns of mumps virus circulation in Spain, 2005 to 2015
People living with undiagnosed HIV infection and a low CD4 count: estimates from surveillance data, Italy, 2012 to 2014

Eurosurveillance - Volume 23, Issue 16, 19 April 2018

Rapid communication
Implementation of MenACWY vaccination because of ongoing increase in serogroup W invasive meningococcal disease, the Netherlands, 2018
 
Research article
Extended screening for infectious diseases among newly-arrived asylum seekers from Africa and Asia, Verona province, Italy, April 2014 to June 2015
Impact of infectious diseases on population health using incidence-based disability-adjusted life years (DALYs): results from the Burden of Communicable Diseases in Europe study, European Union and European Economic Area countries, 2009 to 2013

Eurosurveillance - Volume 23, Issue 17, 26 April 2018

Editorial
Vaccines, trust and European public health
 
Rapid communication
A modified chain binomial model to analyse the ongoing measles epidemic in Greece, July 2017 to February 2018
 
Perspective
Extension of French vaccination mandates: from the recommendation of the Steering Committee of the Citizen Consultation on Vaccination to the law
 
Research article
Adverse events following immunisation with a meningococcal serogroup B vaccine: report from post-marketing surveillance, Germany, 2013 to 2016
Vaccine hesitancy in the French population in 2016, and its association with vaccine uptake and perceived vaccine risk–benefit balance
 
Meeting report
Life in vaccine science – a conversation with Stanley Plotkin at the 4th Conference on Vaccines in Dubrovnik, Croatia, September 2017

12. WHO news

On World Health Day, recommit to health for all

On World Health Day, WHO calls on leaders in the European Region to recommit to health for all through concerted action for universal health coverage (UHC).

Bringing health services closer to people in Kyrgyzstan

The project in Kyrgyzstan offers an example of good practice for World Health Day 2018, which focuses on universal health coverage.

Statement by Dr Zsuzsanna Jakab, WHO Regional Director for Europe, for World Health Day 2018: health for all

"It is unacceptable that anyone today – a pensioner, single parent, unemployed person, your neighbour or mine – should be pushed into poverty by having to pay for the treatment they need. No one should have to choose between buying medicines or putting food on their table, or paying the rent.  Europe has a strong history of recognizing the right to health for all, with equal access. These are guiding values for our health systems."

WHO SDGs Newsletter April 2018

Goal 1: Poverty

• The impact of social protection and poverty elimination on global tuberculosis incidence: a statistical modelling analysis of Sustainable Development Goal 1.

Goal 2: Hunger and food security    

• Global nutrition 1990-2015: A shrinking hungry, and expanding fat world.

Goal 3: Health

• Guideline: Protecting, Promoting and Supporting Breastfeeding in Facilities Providing Maternity and Newborn Services. 
• A life-course approach to health: synergy with sustainable development goals.
• Qualitative evidence to improve guidelines and health decision-making.
• Global efforts in measuring quality of care.
• Towards a common mapping tool for measurement in health service delivery: interim concept note.
• A framework for stimulating economic investments to prevent emerging diseases.

Goal 5: Gender equality and women's empowerment

• Women in agriculture: Four myths.

Goal 6: Water sanitation

• Innovative sanitation approaches could address multiple development challenges.

Goal 10: Inequalities

• Capacity building for health inequality monitoring in Indonesia: enhancing the equity orientation of country health information system.