Newsletter December 2005

Creating national health alliances in new EU member states

The handbook “Creating national health alliances in new EU member states” by Geof Rayner gives valuable information on NGO development and public health promotion.
The handbook was prepared for the European Public Health Alliance to assist organisations and individuals in the new member countries of the EU in central and eastern Europe to stimulate their own voice for public health and to develop an organisational form to express this voice.
The manual can be used as a tool for (...)

EPHA issues a call for expressions of interest for partnerships within the CEE region

EPHA is issuing a call for expressions of interest for partnerships to strengthen the national networks on public health in CEE countries.
The aim of the call
This call for proposals has been launched to identify organisations that are interested in networking and prepared to carry out activities that will bring together a wide range of other local, national or international organisations. The overall goal of this call is to develop partnerships and build up coalitions of NGOs that are (...)

Building NGO capacities in Slovakia, November 2005

A seminar organised by EPHA on capacity building for NGOs in New Member States took place in Bratislava, Slovakia, from 24 to 27 November 2005.
Entitled “Citizen in the centre in the EU”, the event was financed partly by the European Commission and partly by the Ministry of Health, Welfare and Sports of The Netherlands.
EPHA, the Netherlands Institute for Care and Welfare (NZIW) and the Social Work Advisory Board (RPSP) in Slovakia co-organised the event.
The aim of the event (...)

Promoting voluntary activities in Bulgaria, March 2006

The Association of Voluntary Service Organisations (AVSO) invites all interested activists to attend a training seminar on promoting voluntary activities which will take place from 9 to 12 March 2006 in Sofia, Bulgaria.
The aim of the seminar is to enhance the role of mobility in promoting the participation and inclusion of young people. The main objective is to establish partnerships between organisations from the EU and Pre-Accession Countries, that will trigger new volunteer exchange (...)

The European Cancer Leagues recruit a Coordinator/ Director

The European Cancer Leagues (ECL), an EPHA member organisation, have an open vacancy for a coordinator, working as director of ECL.
Main tasks and responsibilities:
The ECL co-ordinator/director is responsible for the administrative tasks of ECL and the co-ordination of all ECL activities in collaboration with the ECL President and the ECL Executive Board.
The tasks include the following:
Correspondence and collaboration with ECL member organisations
Preparation and reporting of Executive (...)

EPHA Presentation: recent policy trends at EU level

Tamsin Rose made a presentation on recent EU policy trends and the better regulation process at the EC Law and Nordic Alcohol policy meeting in Oslo on 15 December 2005.
The meeting, organised by ACTIS (Norwegian Policy Network on Alcohol and Drugs) reviewed recent cases from the European Court of Justice (ECJ) on pharmaceuticals, advertising and gambling.

Secretariat News December 2005

Events that EPHA attended
Francesco attended a meeting of the Alliance for Lobbying Transparency and Ethics Regulation (Alter-EU network) on “The EU Transparency, which way forward for NGOs?”, which was held in Brussels on 30 November 2005. A report is available in the members only area of this website.
Milena attended the conference on ¨Generation Excess II¨ on 1-2 December 2005 in Brussels. More information can be obtained at the following article: Transatlantic approaches to (...)

IPPF-EN open letter: Italian women’s sexual and reproductive rights

EPHA member IPPF-EN has drafted an open letter to denounce the current situation in Italy in relation to abortion. The letter has been sent by the Italian MEP Pia Locatelli (President of the European Socialist Women Association) to every MEP and assistant of the European Parliament. It is a strong statement on abortion and against the Catholic Church position on the issue.
The text can be downloaded below. It stresses the substantial risk that the Italian policies on sexual and reproductive (...)

EATG position paper on HIV/AIDS clinical trials and drug users

The European AIDS Treatment Group (EATG), an EPHA member organisation, issued their position paper on clinical research and drug users in order to urge key stakeholders to include drug users in the clinical trials.
Despite the high prevalence of HIV/AIDS within the injecting drug user population, EATG points out that drug users are excluded from clinical trials which raise concerns regarding the relevance of future treatments for this high-risk population.
EATG notes that health care (...)

EUROPA DONNA elects new Executive Board members for 2006

EPHA member, EUROPA DONNA - The European Breast Cancer Coalition has recently voted new members to sit on its Executive Board.
The Executive Board is elected by voting National Delegates at a General Assembly and consists of a maximum of nine members, three of whom must be breast cancer survivors.
The following National Delegates have been elected and will begin their terms on 1 January 2006. Term limits vary in order to comply with constitutional requirements.
Adriana Bonifacino (Italy) (...)

Fighting for Breath - a report on living with severe asthma

EPHA Member, the European Federation of Allergy and Airways Diseases Patients’ Association (EFA) launched the results of the survey "Fighting for Breath: a European patient perspective on severe asthma" at the European Respiratory Society (ERS) Congress in September 2005.
Up until now, no pan-European survey by patients for patients has reported the real life experiences of what people living with severe asthma undergo every day. According to the report, "millions of people across (...)

Doctors in society: Medical professionalism in a changing world

The Royal College of Physicians of London, an EPHA member, recently published a report entitled “Doctors in society: Medical professionalism in a changing world”. This publication is compiled by a Working Party, and describes the nature and role of medical professionalism at a time when the healthcare system is undergoing enourmous change.
Whilst a lack of professionalism is harmful to patient care, the political and cultural environment of health can hamper its exercise. The (...)

Updated: The Lisbon Strategy - a brief introduction

The Lisbon Strategy, launched in 2000, is becoming an increasingly important part of the EU agenda. Revitalising the strategy has been prioritised by Member States and within the new Commission team, the job of over-seeing the Lisbon strategy will be the responsibility of the President.
In response to a request from EPHA members, the Secretariat have developed a briefing note to explain the key elements of the Lisbon Strategy and the policy processes associated with Lisbon.
Recent (...)

Health experts deplore unambitious proposals on air pollution

The European Public Health Alliance, the International Society of Doctors for the Environment - Europe, the European Federation of Allergy and Airways Disease Patients Association and the EPHA Environment Network, representatives of the health, environmental health and patient community throughout Europe, sent a letter to European Ministers ahead of the EU Environment Council held in Brussels on 2 December 2005.
The letter describes how European legislation associated with the 6th (...)

**UPDATED** Code of conduct for non-profit organisations

The European Commission issued guidelines for Member States to coordinate the non-profit sector in the context of the fight against terrorism.
The European Commission has adopted Guidelines for Member States on national level coordination structures and vulnerabilities of the non-profit sector. According to these guidelines, the Commission will set up an "informal contact group" with civil society and will organise a conference with representatives of the non-profit sector and other (...)

**UPDATED** EU budget in the spotlight

This article has been updated with the latest call for action and an analysis of the consequences of the financial agreement on the Health programme (attached documents). For more information on the agreement reached on the 04 April, read EU leaders agree a budget for 2007-2013
The debate about the EU budget is heating up as the June 2005 deadline for agreement gets closer. It takes about 18 months to prepare the legal paperwork to allow the EU to spend money on programmes so if a deal is (...)

**UPDATED** Science and society: Meeting of Minds

*This article has been updated with information about the outcome of the project.*
The King Baudouin Foundation successfully led an EU-funded project called "Meeting of Minds" which aimed to foster greater involvement of citizens in defining priorities for brain research.
Run by 12 different organisations, the 2-year pilot project "Meeting of Minds" gave the opportunity to ordinary citizens from 9 EU Member States to discuss the impact of brain science on their daily life and express (...)

What role for civil society in research?

Following the publication by the European Commission of its proposal for the Seventh Research Framework Programme (FP7) (2007-2013) and the recent two FP6 calls for proposal targeting civil society, the role of civil society organisations must be significantly strenghtened in research.
Although there are a lot of concerns about the funding distribution in FP7, especially with regard to health, the other face of the debate focuses on the "war of evidence". How is defined sound and (...)

The revision of the Television Without Frontiers Directive: an unhealthy Christmas present

*UPDATED* EU leaders agree a budget for 2007-2013

This article has been updated with the results of the negotiations and adoption by the Council and the European Parliament in April 2006. For information on the consequences for the Health budget, read EU budget in the spotlight
EU summit - December 2005
After 17 hours of negotiations at the EU Summit on 15-16 December 2005, the UK managed to get a political agreement from all Member States on the EU budget for the period 2007-2013.
The European Commission had put forward an ambitious (...)

Research: New Calls for proposal for civil society

Recently, the European Commission published two calls for proposals in the area of Science and Society under the Sixth Framework Programme.
Science Shops
The objective of the call is to contribute to universities’ mission of sharing knowledge outside the academic sphere. It mainly targets local civil society, universities and organisations involved in the training of students.
The call requires the use of specific support actions (SSA) and coordination actions (CA). Participants should (...)

World AIDS Day 2005: EU commits to help combat the rising epidemic

Following World AIDS Day, the European Commission is to step-up the fight against HIV/AIDS. The various initiatives present themselves against a backdrop of the escalating number of reported new HIV cases over the last 4 years, with young people being the main victims.
A new European Commission Communication To help combat the rise of the HIV/AIDS epidemic in Europe and neighbouring countries, the Commission has adopted a Communication detailing concrete steps for 2006-2009.
The latest (...)

New Commission Communication on Public-Private Partnerships

On 15 November 2005, the European Commission adopted a Communication on Public-Private Partnerships and Community Law on Public Procurement and Concessions.
Although there is no Community definition of the term "public-private partnership" (PPP), it can generally be described as “a variation of privatisation in which elements of a service previously run solely by the public sector are provided through a partnership between the government and one or more private sector (...)

**UPDATED** European Commission’s Green Paper on how to promote healthy diets and physical activity

**UPDATED with the report of all responses**. On 8 December 2005, the Commission adopted a Green Paper entitled "Promoting healthy diets and physical activity: a European dimension for the prevention of overweight, obesity and chronic diseases".
The paper seeks to initiate a dialogue with all interested parties on how action at European level can complement, support and coordinate action at national level. The Commission also points out that the response needs to be at European, national (...)

ECJ rules on professional recognition of dentists in Austria

The European Court of Justice has ruled that individuals with non-university dental training of three years’ duration are not entitled to engage in their occupation under the name of dental practitioner or dentist.
The judgement comes following an enforcement action brought by the Commission against Austria, for failure to comply with two Community Directives relating to the dental profession on:
mutual recognition of diplomas ("Recognition Directive")
coordination of training required by (...)

**UPDATED**European Court of Justice asked to rule on marketing of herbal cigarettes

*Updated with the conclusions of the Court.* The Supreme Court of the Netherlands has referred to the European Court of Justice for a preliminary ruling on herbal cigarettes.
In the case of ‘A.C. Smits-Koolhoven against Staatssecretaris van Financiën’, the Supreme Court of Netherlands asked if herbal cigarettes are to be considered and defined as tobacco products and thereof submitted to the same rules.
The Supreme Court of Netherlands refers particularly to the Council Directive 95/59/EC (...)

ECJ rules on the protection of workers from exposure to carcinogens

The European Court of Justice has stated that Austria failed to protect workers by not adopting the necessary legislation to fully implement the Council Directive on the protection of workers from the risks related to exposure to carcinogens at work and extending it to mutagens (1999/38/EC).
The action was brought before the Court by the European Commission. The Austrian government argued that the Directive had been transposed into national law at federal level within the time limit (...)

Fourth meeting of the Diet, Physical Activity and Health - EU Platform for Action

The fourth plenary meeting of the European Union Platform on Diet, Physical Activity and Health took place on 30 November 2005 in Brussels. The meeting was chaired by Robert Madelin, Director General of DG SANCO at the European Commission.
Nutrition and the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP)
Following the chair’s introduction, the floor was given to Mr Lars Hoelgaard, Deputy Director-General of DG Agriculture, who delivered a presentation on the "CAP contribution to the European Platform on (...)

The cost of malnutrition in the UK

The British Association for Parenteral and Enteral Nutrition (BAPEN) published a report in December 2005 which highlights the increasing health care costs of malnutrition in the United Kingdom.
The report, entitled "The cost of disease-related malnutrition in the UK and economic considerations for the use of oral nutritional supplements (ONS) in adults" found that malnutrition costs the UK more than 10.8 billion Euros a year (7.3 billion British pounds) - more than double the bill for (...)

Making civil dialogue work better

The Civil Society Contact Group , of which EPHA is a member, is running a study on the participation of civil society organisations in the EU policy process.
The study will be published by the end of April 2006. Its aim is to give some input to important debates at the European level such as Plan D, improving transparency and the future since the failed constitutional process.
Up till now, there are many missing points in the development of the civil dialogue such as lack of coherence (...)

2005 Report on the state of the drugs problem in Europe

The 2005 Annual Report on the state of the drugs problem in Europe was launched in late November by the European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction (EMCDDA).
The EMCDDA is one of the European Union’s agencies and was created in 1993 to provide the Community and its Member States with "objective, reliable and comparable information at European level concerning drugs and drug addiction and their consequences".
According to the 2005 report, there are currently over 2 million (...)

Decent Work - Safe Work: a global report on work-related accidents and ill health

The International Labour Organisation (ILO) has published a report entitled "Decent Work - Safe Work", within the framework of the XVIIth World Congress on Safety and Health at Work, which took place from 18-22 September 2005 in Orlando, USA.
The report provides an overview of the most recent worldwide estimates of occupational and work-related accidents and diseases, and what the ILO and its member states are doing to improve conditions in the workplace.
According to the report, there (...)

*UPDATED* EU campaign to address work safety of young people

*UPDATED with the ’Safe Start Charter’. The European Agency for Safety and Health at Work (OSHA) plans to address work safety of young people in 2006, through an EU-wide campaign.
Stating that the risk of work accidents is at least 50% higher among those aged 18-24, due to a lack of risk awareness, adequate training and supervision, the "Right Start" campaign aims to:
Promote risk awareness;
Promote the preparation of young people for the safety aspects of working life;
Promote safer (...)

WHO Human Rights Day 2005 dedicated to Mental Health

The World Health Organisation (WHO) dedicated International Human Rights Day to people with mental disorders, highlighting thereof the prevalence of human right abuses.
Following an increasing awareness that people with mental ill health suffer from violation of their human dignity, the World Health Organisation decided to point out the continuing need to address stigma, discrimination and the consequent social exclusion.
In order to draw attention on the issue, the WHO has designed a new (...)

Newborn health receives major financial support

The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation announced the allocation of $ 84.3 million to help prevent newborn illness and death in 18 developing countries.
Almost 99% of the death cases occur in the developing countries.
The death of millions of children could be prevented by improving the access to antibiotics, sterile blades and clean childbirth kits.
The grant will be used for two initiatives:
Save the children for newborn health projects in 18 developing countries ($60 million)
Path to (...)

The effects of health care reforms on gender equity: widening the gender gap?

The Health Evidence Network (HEN), an initiative of the World Health Organisation (WHO) Regional office for Europe, has recently published a report entitled "What evidence is there about the effects of health care reforms on gender equity, particularly in health?".
This report suggests that the international trends towards a more efficient, effective and equitable health care sector, may affect men and women differently, given their different positions as users and producers of health care. (...)

EU Health and Safety agency 2005 priorities: end of year review

In 2005 the European Agency for Safety and Health at Work in Bilbao set out to tackle noise and the impact on workers’ hearing, and the link with stress and accidents.
Other priorities were emerging risks, safety and health awareness in the new Member States, protecting young workers and the occupational safety and health implications of Europe’s ageing workforce.
Major information initiatives included:
A Europe-wide information campaign focusing on the risks of excessive noise at work (...)

Internal Market Committee votes on the Services Directive: healthcare services to be excluded from the scope

On 22 November 2005, the Internal Market and Consumer Protection Committee at the European Parliament voted at first reading on the report tabled by Ms. Evelyne GEBHARDT MEP (PES, DE).
Over 1600 amendments were tabled for this controversial piece of legislation. Lots of amendments were approved or rejected by a very narrow majority, whereas compromised and consolidated amendments were jointly supported by the major political groups.
MEPs agreed over a number of points:
The need for a (...)

WTO amends the TRIPS agreeement on access to medicines

WTO members on 6 December 2005 approved changes to the TRIPS intellectual property agreement, making permanent a decision on patents and public health originally adopted in 2003.
The World Trade Organisation set up a waiver in August 2003, the goal of which was to make it easier for poorer countries to obtain cheaper generic versions of patented medicines, by setting aside a provision of the TRIPS Agreement (article 31f) that could hinder exports of pharmaceuticals manufactured under (...)