The European Heart Network joined EPHA eight years ago when the two organisations were sharing the same Brussels’ office at 1 Place du Luxembourg. Susanne Logstrup, EHN’s Director says her main reason for being part of EPHA is the same now as it was then.
The European Public Health Alliance (EPHA) and the European Heart Network (EHN) are about the same age. EHN celebrated its 10 years in 2002 and in many ways the two entities can be said to have grown up together. They were "childhood" neighbours, and they have witnessed together major developments related to health at a European level from the first Treaty article dedicated to health to the first Commissioner whose title explicitly refers to health. When I joined the EHN in 1995, both organisations were located in the same building, almost next door to each other. They already had very close links. The two teams were already exchanging information on policy development and background information as well as on practical matters. But of course, EPHA was more than its staff in Place du Luxembourg - where it was located then - and it seemed a natural next step for EHN to enter into the "whole" of EPHA by becoming a member.
Keeping health on the agenda
About a year or so after joining EPHA, I was asked for the first time why EHN was a member. The question was posed by an MEP. The answer I gave is as true now as it was then. EHN became a member of EPHA to support an organisation that is dedicated to keeping health on the European agenda.
Clearly, an overall commitment to ensuring that health is enshrined in the Treaty is essential to any organisation working in the field, be it health promotion and disease prevention, health care, or systems of delivery of health. It seemed to me that EPHA would be the organisation best placed to maintain a high awareness of the importance of health. EHN as well as other health organisations, Europe-wide or other, whole-heartedly share the commitment to health in general. But as many of us are "specialised" or disease specific, we are often more focused on certain policy areas and specific pieces of legislation. EPHA is the umbrella organisation which keeps the big picture in place and that allows us to operate more efficiently and effectively in our areas.
Networking
EPHA is a membership organisation. And meeting with other members of EPHA in its various fora is important. It provides an overview of the issues that other groups active in different areas of health are covering. Such insight helps us broaden our views - and it can create a synergy. One recent example of working as a network is the joint efforts of many EPHA member organisations to raise the profile of health at the Convention on the Future of Europe. The networking, in other words, facilitates co-operation at several levels, which again allows the pooling of resources as and when appropriate.
Creating a "human face" for Brussels
In addition, EPHA has managed to "bring the European Union to its member organisations". By this I mean its dedicated efforts to explaining the EU processes and procedures and to placing health within this context. By offering its members the opportunity to meet with Commission officials and MEPs, EPHA has also given the EU a human face, in particular to those member organisations that are not Brussels-based.
Promoting health in other sectors
An important part of EPHA’s activities is the European Public Health Update. The many and regular issues of this publication demonstrate better than anything that health is not created or sustained by health policies alone, but, indeed, to a very large extent by developments in other policy areas. In EU terms this means that policies that have a substantial impact on health are made throughout the Commission’s Directorates General. EPHA’s Update as well as its meetings, often organised in the European Parliament, have helped create or raise awareness about this and have highlighted the need for health impact assessments or the mainstreaming of health into other policies.
This is an important point for the EHN. Our mission is to reduce the suffering and early death from cardiovascular diseases. Cardiovascular diseases are to a very large extent brought on by unhealthy lifestyles. They are multifactorial, which means that they are caused by an accumulation of behaviours that are adverse to heart health, for instance tobacco use, diets that are rich in fat and poor in fruit and vegetables, and lack of physical activity. Psychosocial factors also play an important role. Consequently, EHN is interested in developments in many policy areas and highly appreciates the facts and analysis presented in Update.
Diet and agriculture
With diets playing a significant role in the development of cardiovascular diseases, EHN is keenly tracking policies that have an impact on the type of food produced (by farmers, by manufacturers or by caterers). This is because the foods available have the potential to affect cardiovascular disease as well as other diet-related diseases. The EU’s major policy area, the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP), has an indisputable influence on what people eat (an influence which over the years has led to an increased consumption of milk and meat, which has an adverse impact on activities aiming at preventing early death and morbidity from cardiovascular diseases).
EHN, therefore, welcomed EPHA’s initiative in September 1999 to hold a meeting bringing together 50 NGOs from all over Europe to discuss how the various elements of the CAP have an impact on the health of Europeans. This was a unique experience and one that benefited all the participants. It led to a statement signed by over 50 organisations coming from health, environment, consumers and farming. The signatory organisations reflected the many angles from which the CAP can be seen to affect health, including through nutrition and food safety, the use of antibiotics, animal feed and welfare, and the use of pesticides. The statement also included aspects on biodiversity, environmental-friendly farming, rural employment and development plus issues of relevance to international trade. EPHA thus showed the importance of analysing how a major EU policy influences people’s health in many ways, and the importance of "grabbing the nettle at its root". Put differently, this means accepting that in the case of the CAP there is a need for reform not only from an economic and farming point of view but also with the aim of improving health while securing food supply and decent incomes for farmers. EPHA has helped demonstrate that there is no reason to believe that one excludes the other.
So congratulations to EPHA on its ten years - and many happy returns ! The people of Europe need your enthusiasm and your critical and constructive voice.
Info
Susanne Logstrup, Director
European Heart Network
31 Rue Montoyer
1000 Brussels, Belgium
Tel : +32 2 512 91 74
Fax : +32 2 503 35 25
E-mail : slogstrup@skynet.be ; ehn@skynet.be
Website : http://www.ehnheart.org
