Newsletter – December 2023

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

1. Editorial

As the festive season is upon us, we are delighted to present to you the final 2023 edition of the EUPHA newsletter.

We gear up for an important year ahead, with the European elections. We aim to place public health high on the agenda, and we are committed to advocating for policies that promote health equity, sustainability, and inclusivity. Our partnership with the EU4Health Civil Society Alliance will be an opportunity to amplify our voices. Stay tuned for the insightful materials that has been prepared! We also will support with our own EUPHA-specific resources on science and evidence, such as fact sheets or an e-collection of the Journal on comparison of the systems. Your ideas and contributions in this endeavor are highly welcome. You can contact us at [email protected].             

Recognizing that not all our members are part of the EU and to further strengthen our science to policy work, we are also committed to working closely with the World Health Organization on themes outlined in our Memorandum of Understanding.

We wish you health and happiness in the coming year.

Warm regards,

Dr Iveta Nagyova, EUPHA President, and Charlotte Marchandise, Executive Director

2. EUPHA update

Charlotte Marchandise attended the European Health Summit 2023

Insightful discussions at #EHS2023 on enhancing partnerships and communication for #oneHealth. Charlotte Marchandise emphasizes the need for open science, sharing best practices, and embracing slow innovation. Key focus on building bridges between countries to enhance collaboration.
   

EUPHA president speaking at the European Patient Safety conference – 17 November 2023 Vienna, Austria

On 17 December EUPHA president, Dr Iveta Nagyova, participated in the European Patient Safety conference in Vienna, Austria and spoke about “Behavioural and Cultural Insights in healthcare: Exploring and using the factors that affect health behaviours to improve patient outcomes”.

3. European Public Health Conference

17^th EPH CONFERENCE, Lisbon 2024

Next year’s European Public Health Conference 2024, Lisbon, Portugal

The 17th EPH Conference will be held in Lisbon, Portugal, from 12 – 15 November 2024. Note that from 2024 onwards main EPH Conferences will be held from Wednesday to Friday. Pre-conferences will be held on Tuesday 12 November. The main conference is from 13 – 15 November. Theme of the EPH conference 2024 is: Sailing the waves of European public health: exploring a sea of innovation. The conference will be held at the Lisbon Congress Center (CCL). Read more here.

Webinar series Sailing to Lisbon 2024

Join us for our monthly webinar series titled ‘Sailing to Lisbon 2024’ exploring the conference’s main themes and subthemes: post-pandemic challenges, workforce capacity building, immunization strategies, and the evolving role of public health professionals. Click here to watch the first episode on Global Health and for the agenda of the next webinars.

Abstract submission LIsbon 2024

Abstract submission for the 17th EPH Conference is open from 1 February until 1 May 2024. Abstracts are invited for workshops, oral, pitch and poster presentations. Do not miss the opportunity to share your work with colleagues at the largest public health event in Europe. In collaboration with EUPHAnxt we provide an abstract tutoring programme offering an opportunity for young and/or less experienced abstract submitters to receive feedback from experienced reviewers. Check our website for any updates.

16^th EPH CONFERENCE DUBLIN 2023

Podcasts by EUPHAnxt

EUPHAnxt had a strong presence at the EPH conference in Dublin last month. They organised or participated in nearly 20 events, including pre-conferences, workshops, skill-building seminars, round tables, and in the plenary session on Building the future One Health workforce. You can watch the plenary here. EUPHAnxt Fellows created various podcasts from the conference and they are now available for you to listen. Check it out here.

Photo gallery Dublin 2023

Find yourself in the spectacular photo gallery of the EPH Conference Dublin 2023. Click here.

4. European Journal of Public Health

Volume 33, Issue 6, December 2023

EDITORIAL
No country is safe from a pandemic: insights into small countries’ COVID-19 experiences
Sarah Cuschieri and others

SOCIAL DETERMINANTS
Ethnic differences in multimorbidity after accounting for social-economic factors, findings from The Health Survey for England
Linda Ng Fat and others
Impact of the association between education and obesity on diabetes-free life expectancy
Henrik Brønnum-Hansen and others
What is missing from how we measure and understand the experience of poverty and deprivation in population health analyses?
Katharine Timpson and others

HEALTH SERVICES RESEARCH
Do physician networks with standardized audit and feedback deliver better quality care for older patients compared to regular care?: a quasi-experimental study using claims data from Bavaria, Germany
Iryna Iashchenko and others
Changes in public health-seeking behaviours for self-limiting respiratory tract infections across England during the COVID-19 pandemic
Brieze Read and others
Lifetime healthcare expenditures across socioeconomic groups in Sweden
Stephanie Fledsberg and others

MENTAL HEALTH
Stability of clustering of lifestyle risk factors in the Dutch adult population and the association with mental health
Hannah Dorsman and others
The Every Mind Matters campaign: changes in mental health literacy and its associations with campaign awareness
Jane S Hahn and others
Occupational class differences in male suicide risk in Finland from 1970 to 2019
Simo Raittila and others

CHILD AND ADOLESCENT HEALTH
The association between type of conception through medically assisted reproduction and childhood cognition: a Danish population-wide cohort study
Peter Fallesen
Educational achievement of children with selected major congenital anomalies and associated factors: a Finnish registry-based study
Zahra Roustaei and others
Trends in the long-term impact of childhood visual impairment on health and social outcomes in the UK: a cross-cohort study across three decades of disability-related legislation and policy implementation
Vasiliki Bountziouka and others
The relationship between time spent on social media and adolescent alcohol use: a longitudinal analysis of the UK Millennium Cohort Study
Amrit Kaur Purba and others

MORTALITY AND LIFE EXPECTANCY
Sex differences in cause-specific mortality: regional trends in seven European countries, 1996–2019
Markus Sauerberg and others
The impact of interpersonal reporting heterogeneity on cross-country differences in Healthy Life Years in Europe
Marc Luy and others
Trends of fall-related and other fatal injuries in older adults in Finland between 1998 and 2020
Tuija Ylitörmänen and others

WORK AND HEALTH
Does previous sickness absence affect work participation after vocational labour market training? A difference-in-differences propensity score matching approach
Laura Salonen and others
Characteristics of employment history and self-perceived barriers to healthcare access
Hanno Hoven and others

NUTRITION
Dietary fruits and vegetables and risk of cardiovascular diseases in elderly Chinese
Kang Wang and others
EDITOR’S CHOICE
Effective policies to promote sugar reduction in soft drinks: lessons from a comparison of six European countries
Olivier Allais and others
Is health promotion in sports clubs associated with adolescent participants’ fruit and vegetable consumption?
Laura Heikkilä and others

ALCOHOL AND SUBSTANCE USE
Alcohol, drug and tobacco prevention in Swedish municipalities — impact from the COVID-19 pandemic considering socio-demographic context
Ulrika Owen and others
Adolescent alcohol and cannabis use as risk factors for head trauma in the Northern Finland Birth Cohort study 1986
Maarit K Koivisto and others

CANCER
The effect of a pre-scheduled appointment on attendance in a population-based mammography screening programme
Mathijs M Goossens and others
Public awareness of the alcohol-cancer link in the EU and UK: a scoping review
Daša Kokole and others

COVID-19
Worsened self-rated health in the course of the COVID-19 pandemic among older adults in Europe
Daniel Lüdecke and Olaf von dem Knesebeck
Public trust in the Government to control the spread of COVID-19 in England after the first wave—a longitudinal analysis
Claudia Boehm and others
Symptom profiles and their risk factors in patients with post-COVID-19 condition: a Dutch longitudinal cohort study
Sander K R van Zon and others
Impact of COVID-19 epidemic on temporal pattern of new HIV diagnoses in Italy, 2021 database
Maria Dorrucci and others
People interact closer when a face mask is worn but risk compensation is at best partial
Martin Aranguren and others

VACCINATION
Exploring missed opportunities for influenza vaccination and influenza vaccine co-administration patterns among Italian older adults: a retrospective cohort study
Alexander Domnich and others
Estimated number of reported vaccine-preventable disease cases averted following the introduction of routine vaccination programs in Sweden, 1910–2019
Leah J Martin and others
Health status, healthcare use and child MMR vaccination coverage in Travellers according to their environmental and living conditions in Nouvelle-Aquitaine, France, 2019–2022
Aude Mondeilh and others

EUROPEAN PUBLIC HEALTH NEWS
A method for my role as Executive Director: Gather, Empower and Deliver as one
Charlotte Marchandise and others

5. Call for proposals, job opportunities

The Health for All Film Festival

Call for submissions to the Health for All Film Festival (5th edition)

Films are a powerful way to raise awareness, improve understanding and encourage positive behavior changes. The Health for All Film Festival (HAFF) is once again inviting public health institutions from around the world, NGOs, communities, activists and students as well as independent filmmakers, production companies, and TV broadcasters to submit their original short films championing a health issue. Send your submission before 31 January 2024 and join the global movement for health impact through film.

Call for editors Journal of Health Services Research & Policy

The Journal of Health Services Research & Policy provides a unique opportunity to explore the ideas, policies and decisions shaping health services throughout the world. Edited and peer-reviewed by experts in the field and with a high academic standard and multidisciplinary approach, readers will gain a greater understanding of the current issues in healthcare policy and research. The journal’s strong international editorial advisory board also ensures that readers obtain a truly global and insightful perspective. The journal publishes four times a year and is available in print and online here. 
Deadline for initial expressions of interest: 31 January 2024.
Check out the call here.

EMCDDA Call for experts to support the risk assessment of new psychoactive substances

On 2 July 2024, the European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction (EMCDDA) will become the European Union Drugs Agency (EUDA) in accordance with Regulation (EU) 2023/1322 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 27 June 2023 on the European Union Drugs Agency (EUDA) and repealing Regulation (EC) No 1920/2006.
The EMCDDA has launched a call for expressions of interest addressed to scientists who wish to be considered for inclusion on a list of experts to be used by the EUDA Executive Director to extend the Scientific Committee for the purposes of ensuring a balanced assessment of the risks posed by new psychoactive substances in accordance with Article 10 and Article 31 of the EUDA Regulation.
For more details about the call and how to apply please go here.
The closing date for submission of expressions of interest is 17 January 2024 at 23h59, Lisbon time (date and hour of submission to EUSurvey). The EMCDDA/EUDA reserves the right to disregard any expressions of interest submitted after that date.

6. Interesting news

Q&A: Coronavirus disease (COVID-19): Variants of SARS-COV-2

This Q&A page by the World Health Organization provides answers to frequently asked questions regarding variants of SARS-COV-2. 

State of Health in the EU 2023: country health profiles now available, 15 December

The European Commission, the European Observatory on Health Systems and Policies and the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) have published Country Health Profiles summarising the status of health and health systems of 27 Member States of the European Union (EU), as well as of Iceland and Norway.
The ‘State of Health in the EU’ cycle is a 2-year process initiated by the European Commission, designed to improve country-specific and EU-wide knowledge in the field of health. Read more here.

7. Upcoming courses and conferences

8. Interesting publications

Publication | The new “German status report on climate change and health (2023)”

Robert Koch Institute, Germany’s public health institute, has coordinated and published a report on the current scientific evidence of the various impacts of climate change on health. Covering a diverse range of topics in infectious diseases, AMR, NCDs, mental health and cross-cutting topics such as climate justice and health equity, the report was written by scientists from nearly 40 national institutions and organisations, and published open access in the Journal of Health Monitoring. Click here for the report. 

Migrant healthcare workers during COVID-19: bringing an intersectional health system-related approach into pandemic protection. A German case study

Front. Public Health | July 2023
Inlight of international migrants day, which was on 18 December, we selected this paper, which introduces an intersectional health systems-related approach to understand how pandemic policies create social inequalities and how the protection of migrant healthcare workers may be improved. 
Keep an eye out for the upcoming related paper here.

The Science of Trust – Building and Restoring Trust in Science and Health Information across Patient, Community and Population Settings

Journal of Communication in Healthcare | December 2023

Trust is crucial in the adoption and maintenance of health-related behaviors, social norms, and policies. This special issue of the Journal (Vol 16. Issue 4) on the science of trust reflects the growing concern over the public trust crisis in health information–including traditional sources of information (e.g., government, medical experts, academia)–as highlighted by the COVID-19 pandemic. 

9. European Institutions’ news

Commission adopts EU4Health 2024 Work Programme with a €752.4 million funding to strengthen the European Health Union

Stella Kyriakides, Commissioner for Health and Food Safety, said: “Today’s adoption of the 2024 EU4Health work programme marks another steady step towards an even stronger European Health Union, and shows once more that health policy is a priority for this Commission. The funding under this largest EU health programme ever amplifies our commitment to bolstering health resilience, advancing the Pharmaceutical Strategy for Europe, and delivering on the actions under Europe’s Beating Cancer Plan to improve treatment, care and quality of life for patients and their families. Civil society has a crucial role to play in reaching out to our citizens and we acknowledge this by continuing operating grants in 2024 and publishing a call for framework partnership agreements for 2025-2026. This funding will also drive critical efforts in mental health, global health, and key advancements in digital health. It is testimony to our collective dedication to a healthier and more resilient EU.”
More information can be found on the factsheet.

Priorities from the EU Public Health expert group for 2024-2026

The priorities set by the Public Health Expert Group for 2024 are: health promotion & prevention of non-communicable diseasesealth, socio-economic, commercial, urban & environmental determinants. And for 2025-2026: healthy longevity/lifelong prevention, vaccine-preventable diseases & vaccination, infectious diseases, and long COVID.
The meeting flash report is available here.

Commission publishes first Union Critical Medicines list to tackle shortages

The European Commission has published the first Union list of critical medicines, together with the European Medicines Agency (EMA) and the Member States’ Heads of Medicines Agencies (HMA).

10. European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control news

Eurosurveillance – Volume 28, Issue 48, 30 November 2023

Rapid communication
HIV diagnoses among people born in Ukraine reported by EU/EEA countries in 2022: impact on regional HIV trends and implications for healthcare planning
Juliana Reyes-Urueña , Gaetano Marrone , Teymur Noori , Giorgi Kuchukhidze , Violetta Martsynovska , Larysa Hetman , Anton Basenko , Stela Bivol , Marieke J van der Werf , Anastasia Pharris  and on behalf of the EU/EEA HIV network

Surveillance
The molecular epidemiology of HIV-1 in Sweden 1996 to 2022, and the influence of migration from Ukraine
Anna Weibull Wärnberg , Johanna Brännström , Olof Elvstam , Magnus Gisslén , Fredrik Månsson , Anders Sönnerborg  and Maarten AA van de Klundert

Research
Ecological and clinical evidence of the establishment of West Nile virus in a large urban area in Europe, Berlin, Germany, 2021 to 2022
Claudia Ruscher , Corinna Patzina-Mehling , Julia Melchert , Selina L Graff , Sarah E McFarland , Christian Hieke , Anne Kopp , Anita Prasser , Torsten Tonn , Michael Schmidt , Caroline Isner , Christian Drosten , Dirk Werber , Victor M Corman  and Sandra Junglen
Relative vaccine effectiveness of mRNA COVID-19 boosters in people aged at least 75 years during the spring-summer (monovalent vaccine) and autumn-winter (bivalent vaccine) booster campaigns: a prospective test negative case–control study, United Kingdom, 2022
Anastasia Chatzilena , Catherine Hyams , Rob Challen , Robin Marlow , Jade King , David Adegbite , Jane Kinney , Madeleine Clout , Nick Maskell , Jennifer Oliver , Adam Finn , Leon Danon  and on behalf of The Avon CAP Research Group

Meeting report
Assessing the health burden of vaccine-preventable infections in European adults: challenges and opportunities translated into action
Jade Pattyn , Paolo Bonanni  and on behalf of the Adult Immunization Board working group

Eurosurveillance – Volume 28, Issue 49, 07 December 2023

Editorial
Respiratory syncytial virus infections – recent developments providing promising new tools for disease prevention
Eeva K Broberg  and Hanna Nohynek

Rapid communication
Genomic characterisation of respiratory syncytial virus: a novel system for whole genome sequencing and full-length G and F gene sequences
María Iglesias-Caballero , Sara Camarero-Serrano , Sarai Varona , Vicente Mas , Cristina Calvo , María Luz García , Juan García-Costa , Sonia Vázquez-Morón , Sara Monzón , Albert Campoy , Isabel Cuesta , Francisco Pozo  and Inmaculada Casas
Early lessons from the implementation of universal respiratory syncytial virus prophylaxis in infants with long-acting monoclonal antibodies, Galicia, Spain, September and October 2023
Federico Martinón-Torres , Susana Mirás-Carballal  and Carmen Durán-Parrondo
A cluster of autochthonous dengue transmission in the Paris region – detection, epidemiology and control measures, France, October 2023
Nelly Fournet , Nathalie Voiry , Julian Rozenberg , Clément Bassi , Caroline Cassonnet , Anaïs Karch , Guillaume Durand , Gilda Grard , Gabriela Modenesi , Stevens-Boris Lakoussan , Nicolas Tayliam , Marta Zatta , Sébastien Gallien , on behalf of the investigation team , Harold Noël , Ségolène Brichler  and Arnaud Tarantola

Research
Factors associated with parental intention to vaccinate their child against influenza, Finland, February to March, 2022: a web-based survey
Idil Hussein , Simopekka Vänskä , Jonas Sivelä , Tuija Leino  and Hanna Nohynek

Miscellaneous
Job vacancies at the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC)
Eurosurveillance editorial team

Eurosurveillance – Volume 28, Issue 50, 14 December 2023

Surveillance
Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on prevalence of highly resistant microorganisms in hospitalised patients in the Netherlands, March 2020 to August 2022
Wieke Altorf-van der Kuil , Cornelia CH Wielders , Romy D Zwittink , Sabine C de Greeff , Dave A. Dongelmans , Ed J Kuijper , Daan W Notermans , Annelot F Schoffelen  and on behalf of the study collaborators ISIS-AR study group
Prospective 25-year surveillance of prion diseases in France, 1992 to 2016: a slow waning of epidemics and an increase in observed sporadic forms
Angéline Denouel , Jean-Philippe Brandel , Laurène Peckeu-Abboud , Danielle Seilhean , Elodie Bouaziz-Amar , Isabelle Quadrio , Jean-Baptiste Oudart , Sylvain Lehmann , Pantxika Bellecave , Jean-Louis Laplanche  and Stéphane Haik

Research
Mpox outbreak in France: epidemiological characteristics and sexual behaviour of cases aged 15 years or older, 2022
Catarina Krug , Arnaud Tarantola , Emilie Chazelle , Erica Fougère , Annie Velter , Anne Guinard , Yvan Souares , Anna Mercier , Céline François , Katia Hamdad , Laetitia Tan-Lhernould , Anita Balestier , Hana Lahbib , Nicolas Etien , Pascale Bernillon , Virginie De Lauzun , Julien Durand , Myriam Fayad , Investigation Team , Henriette De Valk , François Beck , Didier Che , Bruno Coignard , Florence Lot  and Alexandra Mailles
Skin manifestations after immunisation with an adjuvanted recombinant zoster vaccine, Germany, 2020
Stefano Orru’ , Sibylle Bierbaum , Alexander Enk , Hartmut Hengel , Marcus Hoffelner , Daniela Huzly , Brigitte Keller-Stanislawski , Vera Mahler , Maja Mockenhaupt  and Doris Oberle

11. WHO news

Tallinn Charter 15th Anniversary Health Systems Conference: Trust and transformation, 12-13 December.

WHO/Europe, the Ministry of Social Affairs of Estonia and the European Observatory on Health Systems and Policies co-hosted a high-level health systems conference to commemorate 15 years of the Tallinn Charter: Health Systems for Health and Wealth. For the 2023 conference, we have produced a suite of five policy briefs in support of the key themes of trust and transformation. Read more here.

WHO/Europe’s new capacity building tools for emergency preparedness

Increasing the capacity of countries to respond to risk communication, community engagement and infodemic management (RCCE-IM) needs is a priority in order to be able to face future emergencies. WHO/Europe’s new capacity building tools include a Capability Mapping Tool, which helps users self-assess their professional skills against desired levels and a Plan Creator tool, which offers a comprehensive online platform for RCCE practitioners to develop both multi-hazard and specific-hazard plans in an interactive way.

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 HaDEA. Neither the European Union nor the granting authority can be held responsible for them.

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