Dear colleagues,

As you all know, the EPH conference has transferred to a digital event. We are happy and thrilled to invite you to the section’s first digital pre-conference:

Monday 12 October from 14:00 – 17:00 Central European Time.

Register for participation at registration@wcph2020.com  The participation fee is set at 40 EURO.

You can learn more about the EPH congress on https://wcph2020.com.                       Note that deadline for early registration is already at 5^th of August.

The pre-conference theme is as we have announced earlier:

Professor George Delclos, member of our steering group, gives a brief description of the program:

Globalization, technological advances, changes in workforce demographics and new, nonstandard forms of employment, including their interactions with social safety nets, are shaping the future of work (FOW), but the anticipated scenarios are several, and may or may not lead to decent work.

As our first keynote speaker and internationally recognized researcher, Dr. Paul Schulte, Director of the Division of Science Integration at the U.S. CDC National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) will help us explore different FOW scenarios, their likely impacts on worker well-being, and the modulating effects of social protections.

Goal 8 of the United Nations 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development calls for “the promotion of sustained, inclusive and sustainable economic growth, full and productive employment and decent work”. Decent work drives sustainable development and contributes to attaining worker well-being. A laudable goal, without doubt, but how feasible is it to attain decent work in low and middle income countries?  Our second keynote speaker, Dr. Vera Ngowi, Senior Lecturer at the Muhimbili University of Health and Allied Sciences in Tanzania, will frame this issue through her recent work on the challenges of obtaining a decent work environment in Sub-Saharan Africa.

And, finally, there is little question that the COVID-19 pandemic is accelerating the pace and nature of changes in the nature of work, creating high levels of stress, job insecurity, and adverse impacts on health. In this context, the continuation of social protections, together with activation of new emergency measures, can play an important role in preserving the social fabric by helping citizens meet their basic needs, providing healthcare and by extending benefits. Our final keynote speaker, Professor Doctor Nico Dragano, Director of the Center for Health and Society at the University of Dusseldorf, recently coordinated a European work group on the indirect health consequences of COVIOD 19. He will speak on the health consequences of unemployment and social economic differences due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and how this is likely to affect the concepts of work, decent work, social security and sustainability.

FINALLY a reminder: Log in via the member log-in at the EUPHA webpage at least once a year to signal that you still are an active member. If you do this, your membership in all chosen sections updates and you will continue to get newsletters and other information from the SSWH.

And don’t forget to tell your colleagues about our section. Membership is free. It is easy to register at https://eupha.org/social-security-work-and-health

Hope to see you all at the first digital pre-conference of the SSWH.

Best regards,
Gunnel Hensing, Section president

gunnel.hensing@gu.se
University of Göteborg, Sweden