What is happening at the European level

 31st Mar 2020
A new vision for WHO's European Region: united action for better health
The Lancet Public Health | Comment | Volume 5, ISSUE 3, Pe133-e134, March 01, 2020Author: Hans KlugeIn the past two decades the way we live our lives has changed almost beyond recognition. Digitisation, globalisation, migration, and urbanisation, climate change, and resource scarcity have resulted in a more complex, multipolar world. In the health sector, the increasing needs of our citizens, driven by demographic change and rising expectations, rising costs of providing health care, an ever-growing number of innovative medicines, and shortages of health-care workers are challenges facing all European countries today. Our ability to respond is being challenged by disinformation, populist policies, and an erosion of trust in authorities. Given these developments, WHO Europe needs a new vision that meets the challenges of today and the threats and opportunities of tomorrow.Read the comment
Source: The Lancet Public Health
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 12th Dec 2019
The active living gender's gap challenge: 2013-2017 Eurobarometers physical inactivity data show constant higher prevalence in women with no progress towards global reduction goals
BMC Public Health | Research article | 12 December, 2019Authors: X. Mayo, G. Liguori, E. Iglesias-Soler, R. J. Copeland, I. Clavel San Emeterio, A. Lowe, F. del Villar & A. Jimenez Abstract BackgroundThe World Health Organization (WHO) considers physical inactivity (PIA) as a critical noncommunicable factor for disease and mortality, affecting more women than men. In 2013, the WHO set a 10% reduction of the PIA prevalence, with the goal to be reached by 2025. Changes in the 2013–2017 period of physical inactivity prevalence in the 28 European Union (EU) countries were evaluated to track the progress in achieving WHO 2025 target.MethodsIn 2013 and 2017 EU Special Eurobarometers, the physical activity levels reported by the International Physical Activity Questionnaire of 53,607 adults were analyzed. Data were considered as a whole sample and country-by-country. A χ2 test was used to analyze the physical inactivity prevalence (%) between countries, analyzing women and men together and separately. Additionally, PIA prevalence was analyzed between years (2013–2017) for the overall EU sample and within-country using a Z-Score for two population proportions.ResultsThe PIA prevalence increased between 2013 and 2017 for the overall EU sample (p <  0.001), and for women (p = 0.04) and men (p < 0.001) separately. Data showed a higher PIA prevalence in women versus men during both years (p <  0.001). When separately considering changes in PIA by gender, only Belgium’s women and Luxembourg’s men showed a reduction in PIA prevalence. Increases in PIA prevalence over time were observed in women from Austria, Croatia, Germany, Lithuania, Malta, Portugal, Romania, and Slovakia and in men from Bulgaria, Croatia, Czechia, Germany, Italy, Lithuania, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, and Spain.ConclusionsPIA prevalence showed an overall increase across the EU and for both women and men between 2013 and 2017, with higher rates of PIA reported for women versus men during both years. PIA prevalence was reduced in only Belgium’s women and Luxembourg’s men. Our data indicate a limited gender-sensible approach while tacking PIA prevalence with no progress reaching global voluntary reductions of PIA for 2025. Read the article
Source: BMC Public Health
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 8th Nov 2019
Right-wing populism and self-rated health in Europe: a multilevel analysis
Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health | Research Report | Volume 73, Issue 12 Authors: Insa Backhaus, Shiho Kino, Giuseppe La Torre, Ichiro Kawachi Abstract Background Individuals who identify as politically conservative have been previously shown to report better self-rated health compared with liberals. We tested whether this association still holds for right-wing populists, which are gaining strength as a political force in Europe in recent decades. Methods We analysed data from 24 617 respondents nested within 18 European countries included in the 2016 European Social Survey. Multilevel analyses were conducted to assess the association between political ideology and self-rated health, adjusting for other individual covariates (happiness and social capital). Results Individuals who voted for right-wing populist parties were 43% more likely to report fair/poor health compared with traditional conservatives (OR=1.43, 95% CI 1.23 to 1.67). The association was attenuated (OR=1.21, 95% CI 1.03 to 1.42) after controlling for additional individual-level variables, including happiness and access to social capital. Higher levels of social capital (informal networks, OR=0.40, 95% CI 0.29 to 0.56; trust, OR=0.82, 95% CI 0.74 to 0.92) and happiness (OR=0.18, 95% CI 0.15 to 0.22) were protectively correlated with fair/poor self-rated health. Conclusions Individuals voting for right-wing populist parties report worse health compared with conservatives. It remains unclear whether ideology is just a marker for health-related practices, or whether the values and beliefs associated with a particular brand of ideology lead to worse health.Read the full article
Source: Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health
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 1st Oct 2019
Achieving health equity in the European region
The Lancet Public Health | Editorial | Volume 4, ISSUE 10, Pe482, October 01, 2019On Sept 10, 2019, WHO published a report, Healthy, prosperous lives for all: the European Health Equity Status Report, which reviews progress and gaps in achieving health equity in the WHO European region and provides critical evidence to inform governments in designing their policies and foster action. Health equity implies that everyone should have a fair opportunity to attain their full health potential and that no one should be disadvantaged from achieving this potential—this report, unfortunately, reveals that progress towards health equity in many of the 53 countries of the WHO European region is stalling. Despite overall improvements in health and wellbeing in the European region over the past 15 years, these successes have not been distributed equally and strong inequities within countries persist. Read more
Source: The Lancet Public Health
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 30th Jul 2019
Drug-related deaths and mortality in Europe: update from the EMCDDA expert network
This publication provides an update on drug-related deaths in Europe, presenting and analysing the latest data and trends in drug-induced deaths and overall mortality among high-risk drug users in the European Union and beyond. It draws on contributions from specialists representing more than 40 countries at the latest meeting of the EMCDDA expert network on drug-related deaths in November 2018 as well as information provided by European countries in the annual reporting exercise.Read more
Source: European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction
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 27th Jul 2019
Hopes for health from new European Commission leader
Ursula von der Leyen, the former German minister of defence, looks set to become President of the European Commission at a vital time for the European project.Read more
Source: The Lancet
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 15th Jul 2019
Call for ECDC Fellowship Programme (EPIET & EUPHEM) cohort 2020
The call for applications for the EU-track cohort 2020 of the ECDC Fellowship Programme is now open. Interested candidates can apply to become a fellow in one of the two paths offered by the Programme: EPIET field epidemiology and EUPHEM public health microbiology.Deadline for application is 8 September 2019, at 24.00 CEST
Source: ECDC
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 11th Jul 2019
Volume 24, Issue 28, 11 July 2019
EuroroundupTargets for the reduction of antibiotic use in humans in the Transatlantic Taskforce on Antimicrobial Resistance (TATFAR) partner countriesFabio D’Atri, Jacqueline Arthur, Hege Salvesen Blix, Lauri A Hicks, Diamantis Plachouras, Dominique L Monnet and the European Survey on Transatlantic Task Force on Antimicrobial Resistance (TATFAR) action 1.2 groupSurveillance Improving preparedness to respond to cross-border hepatitis A outbreaks in the European Union/European Economic Area: towards comparable sequencing of hepatitis A virus 13 Theresa Enkirch, Ettore Severi, Harry Vennema, Lelia Thornton, Jonathan Dean, Maria-Louise Borg, Anna Rita Ciccaglione, Roberto Bruni, Iva Christova, Siew Lin Ngui, Koye Balogun, Vratislav Němeček, Mia Kontio, Mária Takács, Andrea Hettmann, Rita Korotinska, Arthur Löve, Ana Avellón, Milagros MuñozChimeno, Rita de Sousa, Denisa Janta, Jevgenia Epštein, Sofieke Klamer, Vanessa Suin, Stephan W Aberle, Heidemarie Holzmann, Kassiani Mellou, Josefine Lundberg Ederth, Lena Sundqvist, Anne-Marie Roque-Afonso, Sanja Kurečić Filipović, Mario Poljak, Line Vold, Kathrine Stene-Johansen, Sofie Midgley, Thea Kølsen Fischer, Mirko Faber, Jürgen J Wenzel, Johanna Takkinen and Katrin LeitmeyerExtraordinary increase in West Nile virus cases and first confirmed human Usutu virus infection in Hungary, 2018 Anna Nagy, Eszter Mezei, Orsolya Nagy, Tamás Bakonyi, Nikolett Csonka, Magdolna Kaposi, Anita Koroknai, Katalin Szomor, Zita Rigó, Zsuzsanna Molnár, Ágnes Dánielisz and Mária Takács
Source: Eurosurveillance
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 15th May 2018
EUPHA Statement on proposal for the next EU budget 2021-2027
On May 2nd, 2018, Jean-Claude Juncker, President of the European Commission, presented the proposal for the post-2020 European Union (EU) budget. We believe that European funding for (public) health remains as important as ever and are convinced that it has significant added value. Reflecting on the published proposal, we are pleased to see that the Health Programme will at least be partially continued, even if we are disappointed that the word ‘health’ is almost absent throughout the budget proposal. Read our statement for more reflections on the post-2020 budget proposal.
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 22nd Apr 2018
DG SANTE launches 'Best Practice Portals
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.
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 3rd Apr 2018
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. 
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 8th Mar 2018
Health as the Real Winner: Presidency conference on options to provide better medicines for all
Patients’ confidence should be increased and they should be given an informed access to medicines, experts underlined at an international conference in Sofia, Bulgaria. The event, part of the calendar of the Bulgarian Presidency of the Council of the EU in the health sector, took place on 6 March 2018 in the National Palace of Culture.Read a report on the conference here.
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 8th Mar 2018
Healthy Nutrition for Children - conference within the Bulgarian Presidency of the Council of the EU
Healthy nutrition for children was the topic of an international conference at expert level within the Bulgarian Presidency of the Council of the EU, held on 6 February 2018 in Sofia, Bulgaria. Read the report on the conference here.
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 9th Feb 2018
Healthcare in the EU: Expert Panel on Health publishes 3 opinions to help guide policy makers
The independent Expert Panel on effective ways of investing in health has adopted three Opinions related to access to healthcare, innovative payment models for high-cost innovative medicines and performance of primary care.
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 8th Feb 2018
3rd Mental Health Compass Forum, 8-9 February, Luxembourg
The third EU Compass Forum on mental health and well-being took place 8-9 February in Luxembourg.  The conference brought together Member States' representatives, NGO's, experts in mental health, and representatives from WHO and the Commission to share their experiences and knowledge in addressing mental health issues. This year, the particular focus of the forum was on providing community-based mental health services and mental health in all policies.
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 2nd Feb 2018
EUPHA at Health4LGBTI conference
On February 1st and 2nd, the Health4LGBTI final conference took place in Brussels. During this conference, Arjan van der Star represented the EUPHA section on Sexual & Gender Minority Health.   The conference was the final part of an EU-funded project on reducing health inequalities experienced by LGBTI individuals. The project itself focused mainly on healthcare and aimed to raise awareness, increase understanding and provide healthcare professionals with helpful tools. Besides a literature review and focus group interviews, the project resulted in a full training course for healthcare professionals in order to raise the awareness of LGBTI health inequalities and reduce barriers for LGBTI individuals while accessing healthcare.   During the conference, attendees - representing various NGOs, academia, and civil society – familiarised themselves with the outcomes of the project and the training. The delegates participated in the training sessions and provided extensive feedback to the project's materials. Furthermore, the last sessions of the conference focused on discussing the next steps of the project and its implementations across Europe. Moreover, the importance of the continuation of the project's work was stressed. Future efforts should focus on better understanding the root causes of LGBTI health inequalities, the barriers as experienced in other sectors, and also take a health prevention and promotion perspective into account.  
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 31st Jan 2018
EU TABLE TOP Exercise on hybrid threats
On 30-31 January 2018 the Public Health, Country Knowledge and Crisis Management unit of the Directorate-General for Health and Food Safety (DG SANTE) of the European Commission organized an intersectoral table-top exercise on hybrid threats. The exercise aimed to improve preparedness and response planning to serious cross-border health threats, and raise awareness of and resilience to hybrid threats resulting from the convergence and interconnection of different elements such as communicable diseases, other biological or chemical threats, and attacks on critical infrastructures with a public health relevance involving the health, civil protection and security sectors. It also focussed on fostering coherence, interoperability and coordination among sectors at EU and national level, and collaboration with international partners.
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 26th Jan 2018
CHAFEA: call for proposals under the 3rd programme for health
The Call is based on the third programme for the Union's action in the field of health (2014-2020) and the Annual Work-Programme 2018. The 2018 Work Programme sets out details of the financing mechanisms and priority areas for action to implement the programme. Proposals can be submitted electronically via the Electronic Exchange System of the EU Research & Innovation Participant Portal. The deadline for submission of proposals is 26 April 2018.
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 1st Jan 2018
Bulgaria takes over EU Council presidency in 2018
As of 1 January 2018, Bulgaria has taken over the EU presidency from Estonia. Bulgaria's priorities are: The future of Europe and of the young people – economic growth and social cohesion European Perspective and Connectivity of the Western Balkans Security and stability in a strong and united Europe Digital economy and skills for the future
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 13th Dec 2017
Health Programme 2014-2020 - Work Programme for 2018 to focus resources on European Reference Networks for rare diseases, health promotion and mitigating cross-border health threats
Today the Commission adopted the Health Programme's Work Programme for 2018 (WP 2018) setting out the priorities and actions to be undertaken during that year. The overall budget for 2018 is just over €62 million, with 64% being allocated to grants, 24% to procurement and 12% to other actions including prizes. The WP 2018 will focus on priority areas such as: Support to the European Reference Networks for rare and complex diseases (29% of the budget); The promotion of health and prevention of chronic and major diseases (15%); Strengthening preparedness and response to serious cross-border health threats (15%); and The implementation of EU legislation on medical devices (7%)
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 6th Dec 2017
European Commission: DG Sante publishes a Roadmap on Strengthened cooperation against vaccine preventable diseases
DG Sante is inviting experts, organisations, individuals to provide input for this roadmap. All input will be taken into consideration in the next planning of this initiative. Feedback can be given until the 1st of January 2018.
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