Dear members of the EUPHA Health Promotion Section,

Some of you have reached out to us with questions about the extended section presidency of Luis Saboga Nunes and the appointment of a new vice-president, Uwe Bittlingmayer, replacing Orkan Okan.

First of all, we can explain that indeed it was agreed with Luis that his term could be extended by one year. This was discussed between Luis and Dineke Zeegers (former EUPHA Executive Director) and Alastair Leyland (Section Council Chair) and confirmed by the EUPHA Executive Council. In exceptional cases, such an extension is possible. In this case the reason to grant this extension was that it was deemed important to ensure some continuity for the section given the fact that Orkan, who as a vice-president had always been very actively contributing to section activities, was busy with setting up the Working Group on Health Literacy.

Thus, the section rules leave room for an exceptional extension, but they also state that this should be approved by the Section Council. Such approval was however not sought in this case. In addition, we should have informed you, the section members, about this decision and the underlying rationale. We therefore can understand that some of you were confused during the Join the Network meeting of the section and apologize for these omissions.

Secondly, under the current section rules, it is up to the section president to appoint the vice-president(s). Previously, vice-presidents were also elected, but the procedure was changed to ensure that the president can select someone he/she trusts and can collaborate with well. Thus, the appointment of Uwe by Luis was in line with the applicable procedures, although also here we can understand that some of you were confused given the lack of communication about the section presidency situation in general.

For your information: discussions are ongoing at the moment in the Section Council about changing the section rules as to no longer allowing the possibility that both the president and vice-president come from the same institution and requiring all sections to set up a steering committee – both to ensure a broader and more balanced perspective. These discussions will be taken forward in the Section Council meeting in February. So, in future the section rules may change in this regard.

Finally, please be informed that prior to the 2023 European Public Health Conference elections for the new president for the Health Promotion Section will be organized by the EUPHA office. Everyone who is interested can apply to be a candidate. The new president is elected by the section members by e-mail voting. More information about the procedure will follow in due time.

We hope to have clarified the situation and apologize again for not informing you on the extension of the section presidency earlier,

Kind regards,

Iveta Nagyova, EUPHA President
Alastair Leyland, Section Council Chair
Marieke Verschuuren, EUPHA Executive Director