PHPP Section Join-the-Network meeting during the Dublin EPH Conference
During the EPH Conference in Dublin, our Section traditionally held a Join-the-Network meeting. Idea, as always, was to catch up with colleagues and friends, discuss the work done so far and - most importantly - to welcome anyone interested in learning about the Section’s work, pitch new ideas and discuss the work in the upcoming year. The meeting was chaired by the Section’s Vice-President Damir Ivanković and Past President Marleen Bekker and was well attended, despite overlapping with another important Conference programme event - lunch. :)
Many ideas for 2024 were discussed and explored. New projects on the upcoming 2024 EU elections and a plethora of national elections in Europe in 2024 were proposed. Links to the work of the Health workforce research Section and their April 2024 Mid-term Conference in Cluj, Romania were explored. Collaboration with the WHO Regional Office for Europe, including relevant policy-making competencies were considered. Next to that, further work on commercial determinants of health, the populist radical right in Europe, politics and policies of vaccines and vaccination as well migration policies was mentioned as past and potential future topics of PHPP Section’s focus.
In case you attended, many thanks. In case you missed this but do find the topics listed here interesting or intriguing, or you have some more ideas yourself, then this Section might be the right place for you. In any case, do get in touch. In order to receive our updates, please go to and click “Join the section”.
Do you want to actively contribute to build the section’s work? Later in this newsletter, there is a form through which you can easily manifest your interest.
New Team - Get to know them better
The PHPP section has two recently appointed Vice Presidents: Damir Ivanković and Rana Orhan. Both have been actively contributing to the sections’ activities for a number of years as members of the section’s working group. Check out their profiles below!
Damir Ivanković
Hi! I am a public health physician, originally from Croatia and based in the Netherlands, with a dynamic and somewhat unorthodox blend of professional experiences rooted in intrinsic focus on systems, policies and politics that are underpinned by evidence. Currently working as a freelance researcher and consultant, with roles across research, public administration and policy, consulting, and management in diverse sectors and geographies. I have been involved with the PHPP Section for many years now and am looking forward to contributing further in my VP role, hopefully working with many smart, motivated and innovative folks in the field! Get in touch:
Rana Orhan Pees
"Everything is public health." With this guiding principle, I have gained valuable insights during my journey in the field of public health. I have previously worked for various public health NGOs and in academia, and I now dedicate myself to the challenges of EU and Dutch governance in public health at Ecorys, a research-based consultancy firm. I look forward to collaborating with the EUPHA community towards better health in Europe.
Call for section working group
We are launching the call for the PHPP Section working group, open until 18 March 2024 midnight CET. If you are interested in Public Health Policy and Politics and would like to work with this amazing team, check the details below and fill in your application form through .
PHPP Section Focus
The Public Health Policy and Politics section has a unique focus on the processes and outcomes of policymaking from agenda setting, to implementation and evaluation, and from the EU level down to the level of service providers or citizen initiatives.
The PHPP Section aims at:
- Improving the understanding and management of health policies and governance systems;
- Building transdisciplinary networks across state, academics, civil society & community;
- Building agenda setting, implementation, evaluation capacity and skills across the EUPHA sections.
Section working group
The PHPP Section working group consists of a team of motivated and dynamic professionals with an interest and/or expertise in public health policy and politics. The working groups work closely with the President and Vice Presidents to implement the Section's activities. This includes (but is not limited to):
- Writing communications content (newsletter, LinkedIn, etc)
- Writing abstract proposals (workshops, mainly for the European Public Health Conference)
- Organizing events (online and in person)
- Writing research and policy papers
We need people with interest/knowledge/experience in working on the above-mentioned areas, or on related areas that could fit the Sections’ aims.
Relevant publications
New year new reading resolutions? Please find a few suggestions of publications in the area of health policy and politics. We are building a PHPP section library with you help to - in the future - serve as a useful repository of best (guide)books and papers on health policy (concepts, development, assessment...) If you have additional suggestions, please contact us!
David Hunter. Public Health policy. Cambridge Polity Press. 2005.
Buse, Mays and Walt. Making health policy. McGraw-Hill. 2012.
Blank and Burau. Comparative health policy. Palgrave MacMillan. 2003/2010.
Howlett & Ramesh. Studying Public Policy. Principles and processes. Oxford University Press. 2020.
Immergut, E. (1992) “The Rules of the Game: The Logic of Health Policy-Making in France,
Switzerland, and Sweden”, in Steinmo, S. & K. Thelen & F. Longstreth (eds.) (1992) Structuring Politics. Historical Institutionalism in Comparative Analysis. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, pp.57-89.
Fafard, Cassola, de Leeuw. Integrating science and politics for public health. Palgrave MacMillan. 2022.
S Greer, M Wismar, J Figueras. Strengthening health system governance: better policies, stronger performance. MacGraw-Hill. 2015.
And our own EJPH special issue Volume 28 Issue suppl_3 | European Journal of Public Health | Oxford Academic (oup.com)
