Newsletter February 2007

Exchange of best practice on NGO coallitions in Malta, 2006

On 14th of November, 2006 the Malta Recourse Centre (MRC) held a Practices Exchange Meeting on Networking in Public Health, in Malta .
As part of the EPHA’s Central and Eastern European project, the MRC, in cooperation with Civic Alliance Latvia (CAL), held a meeting for a variety of Maltese organisations working on public health in order to discuss the scope for setting up a public health network in Malta.
The MRC has previously been successful in establishing an Anti-poverty (...)

Secretariat News February 2007

Events that EPHA attended
On the 1st February, Silvia and Anne participated in a strategic meeting on Information to patients organised by Health Action International.
On the 6th and 7th of February Silvia attended the launching of the Seventh Framework Programme (FP7) organised by DG RESEARCH in Brussels. This Conference was part of the European Commission attempt to promote the participation in FP7. It addressed the same topics as the one that took place in Jannuary in Bonn. During the (...)

Childhood Obesity - what can the EU do?

The European Heart Network, an EPHA member, has produced a set of actions and guidelines on addressing child obesity based on a previous report on policy options to prevent child obesity.
The guidelines outline policy priority options and includes a section on plans agreed at European level, as well as detailing the plans of 14 European countries: Austria, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, The Netherlands, Norway, Slovenia, Sweden, and United Kingdom.
At (...)

A new "Smoke is Poison" campaign in the UK

Cancer Research UK an EPHA member has launched an advertising campaign, "Smoke is Poison", to warn people about the dangerous chemicals in cigarette smoke.
Cigarette smoke contains 69 cancer-causing chemicals and hundreds of other poisons. Amongst others, arsenic, formaldehyde and hydrogen cyanide can all be found in cigarette smoke.
According to the UK Public Health Minister, smoking related illnesses cost the health system £1.7 billion each year. Furthermore, 300 people are killed by a (...)

Launch of a new European Network of Homeless Health Workers (EHHW)

A new initiative is being developed to link up health professionals working with people who are homeless, with their counterparts across the EU. The European Federation of National Organisations working with people who are homeless (FEANTSA), together with doctors in the Netherlands and the UK, are working to launch this network in March.
According to FEANTSA, there is an important role for such a network and enormous potential for mutual learning and cooperation in this area. FEANTSA (...)

EAHP recruits a part-time administrative assistant

The European Association of Hospital Pharmacists is a not-for-profit federation of national associations of hospital pharmacists. Funded in 1972, it now represents some 22, 000 hospital pharmacists, from 26 countries. The EAHP office in Brussels is currently looking to recruit an administrative assistant, for a part-time position.
The ideal candidate will be:
Bilingual in English or English mother-tongue - knowledge of other European languages a plus,
pro-active, dynamic and resourceful (...)

Maternal-child exposure via the placenta to environmental chemical substances"

A new study reveals that some pesticides banned in many EU countries but still being used in Spain, are causing disorders in unborn children.
The analysis was developed at San Cecilio University Hospital , in Granada, with 308 women who had given birth to healthy children between 2000 and 2002. The results are alarming: 100% of these pregnant women had at least one pesticide in their placenta, but the average rate amounts to eight different kinds of chemical substances.The most common was a (...)

4th International Conference on Children, Health and Environment

The International Network on Children’s Health, Environment and Safety (INCHES) in collaboration with the University for Health Sciences and the Medical University of Vienna is organising its 4th International Conference on Children Health and the Environment on the 10-12 June 2007.
The conference, supported by EPHA, focuses on reducing environmental risks for children and addresses a (...)

*UPDATED* NGO input for the CEHAPE mid term review Conference, Vienna 13-15 June

*UPDATED with the results of the NGO coordination event.* Opportunities to coordinate the NGO input in different health areas for the Intergovernmental Mid Term Review Conference of the Children’s Environmental and Health Action Plan for Europe. Especially relevant for organisations working on physical activity.
Bacground information
In 2004, European governments signed a Declaration on a Children’s Environmental and Health Action Plan for Europe (CEHAPE) in Budapest.
In 2007, the (...)

*UPDATED* 2007: European Year of Equal Opportunities for all

This article has been updated regarding funding in equal opportunities.
After mobility in 2006, 2007 will emphasise equal opportunities for all as one of the main mottos of the European Union.
The initiative should lead to a European strategy addressing non-discrimination and equal opportunities for all.
The activities undertaken during the year will focus on discrimination based on race or ethnic origin, religion or belief, age, gender, sexual orientation or disability, all can be (...)

Improving access to European-funded research results

The European Commission has issued a communication on how to make the results from European Community-funded research available to all.
Although the document is not legally binding, it aims to end the current situation where European-funded research results (ie paid with public funds) are not necessarily made publicly available and may be accessible by subscribing to scientific publications.
In addition, open access to scientific evidence can accelerate innovation and avoid duplication of (...)

European Commission adopts EU Health Strategy on 23 October 2007.

On 23 October 2007, the European Commission, adopted a new Health Strategy: ’Together for Health: A Strategic Approach for the EU 2008-2013’.
The new EU Health Strategy sets out a framework spanning core issues in health as well as health in all policies and global health issues. The Strategy aims to set clear objectives to guide future work on health at the European level, and to put in place an implementation mechanism to achieve those objectives, working in partnership with (...)

The European Platform for food sovereignty

The European Platform For Food Sovereignty (EPFS) is an unbrella organization representing the interests of more than 150 national assosiations related directly or indirectly with agriculture.
Who are their members?
The EPFS is composed of five "families" of stakeholders: farmers unions, consumers associations, development NGOs, environmental organisations and workers unions (industry or agriculture). Up to date organizations from the following countries have joined the Platform: France, (...)

Healthy Food for All Initiative - Ireland

Healthy Food for All is a new initiative to promote access, availability and affordabilty of healthy food for low-income groups. The aim of the initiative is to address diet-related ill-health and to end food poverty in the island of Ireland. It aims to address a healthier nutrition as well as challenge health inequalities.
The Healthy Food for All Initiative has recently received an award at the World Health Organisation Istanbul conference on obesity as an example of best practices to (...)

Where’s the fruit in food and beverages advertised to children?

Over half of the most highly advertised children’s food and beverage products that clearly show fruit on their packaging, contain no fruit at all, according to the ’Where’s the fruit?’ study released in the U.S.
The study, which focuses on TV adverts of food and beverages which are targeted at children, was carried out by the Prevention Institute, a non-profit center that aims to improve public health. The brands used for the study were the identified as the (...)

European Parliament resolution on banning trans-fatty acids in foods

4 MEPs have decided to take a leading role in combating trans-fatty acids in food and are urging for a ban on the use of trans-fatty acids in food.
John Bowis (EPP-ED UK), Linda McAvan (PES UK), Dan Jorgensen (PES DK) and Jim Higgins (EPP-ED IRL) have tabled a written declaration (attached) to the European Parliament to reduce and ultimately ban the use of Trans Fatty Acids in food. A written declaration has to be signed by half of the Members of the European Parliament before being (...)

Information about the health status in the European region

The World Health Organisation has compiled data in different formats: two databases are particularly useful for policy-makers: the European Health for All database and the European mortality database.
The European Health for all database (HFA-DB) provides fast and easy access, in graphical form, to a wide range of basic health statistics on the 53 countries of the WHO European Region. These are the topics of this database:
Demographic and socio- economic indicator
Mortality-based indicators (...)

Prevalence of TB and Inequalities in Health Care for Roma in Europe

This article gives details of two new reports regarding the health of Roma people in Europe. Firstly the prevalence of TB in Roma communities is addressed in the report Confronting a Hidden Disease: TB in Roma Communities, and secondly, the inequalities in health services is highlighted in a report by the European Roma Rights Centre
TB in Roma Communities
Confronting a Hidden Disease: TB in Roma Communities is a new report by Marta Schaaf of the World Lung Foundation, on behalf of the Open (...)

*Updated* Towards a Europe free from tobacco smoke - EPHA responds

*UPDATED with European Parliament response*.
On 30 January, 2007, the European Commission issued a public consultation on freeing Europe from environmental tobacco smoke (ETS).
Background
Environmental tobacco smoke is also known as "second-hand smoke" or "passive smoking" and is a known cause of illness and death in the European Union.
The promotion of smoke-free places within Europe began with concern for health and safety at work and has now progressed to country-wide bans on smoking in (...)

WHO/Europe suggest improvements for regulations on housing and health

The World Health Organisation European branch has carried out a review of housing and health regulations in selected European countries with cooperation and support from the French Ministry of Health, the Region Emilia Romagna and the city of Forlì (Italy).
The WHO’s Housing and Health programme aims to highlight the relationship betwen housing conditions and the health status of European citizens, as well as propose effective strategies that ensure housing conditions positively (...)

*UPDATED* EU Strategy on Health and Safety at work 2007-2012

*UPDATED with the Council conclusions*. The European Commission has unveiled the Community Strategy for health and safety at work 2007-2012 which aims to achieve a 25% overall reduction of occupational accidents and diseases in the EU.
The new strategy builds upon the evaluation of the previous Community strategy on health and safety at work 2002-2006 and on European legislations on the matter. It is worth noting that the European Union has legislative competence on health and safety at (...)

MEPs backtrack on smoking ban in EP premises!

After only 43 days, the European Parliament has reversed a decision to prohibit smoking in their buildings. Health organisations condemn European Parliament for failing to protect staff and visitors and wasting millions of Euros. It is also worth noting that the vote comes two weeks after the Green Paper on smoke free places is released.
PRESS RELEASE (full version attached) -
On Monday 12th February, the European Parliament Bureau voted 14 to 1 to scrap recently introduced provisions (...)

**UPDATED** Making your voice heard in the EU - A guide for NGOs - Now also in Italian and Spanish

The Civil Society Contact Group, of which EPHA is a member, has published a new training handbook “Making your voice heard in the EU - A guide for NGOs”. The handbook can be downloaded for free, in 8 European languages.
It is specifically designed for relatively new NGOs and activists that are in the process of establishing a European strategy.
The handbook provides information on EU institutions, the way European NGOs work, as well as lobbying “tips”, illustrated by (...)

**Updated** The European Pharmaceutical Forum: discussing provision of information to patients on medicinal products

This article has been updated with a recent press release signed by Health Action International (HAI), the International Society of Drug Bulletins (ISDB), and the Medicines in Europe Forum (MiEF) (attached).
In order to re-launch the debate on Pharmaceutical issues and on information to patients, the European Commission has set up the Pharmaceutical Forum, which proves to be very unbalanced and non-transparent.
The Pharmaceutical Forum was jointly established by Vice President Verheugen (...)

EMEA working party with patients and consumers’ organisations, 2007

During 2007, the EMEA Patient and Consumer Working Party (PCWP) will meet four times.
MEETING OF 16 FEBRUARY 2007
On 16 February 2007, the EMEA Patient and Consumer Working Party met for the first time this year.
The main item on the agenda was the election of the two co-chairs for the next 3 years and the setting up of working groups to tackle certain issues in more detail.
After a rigorous election procedure, Nikos Dedes from EATG was elected as co-chair from the patient and consumers’ (...)

The EU and Japan exchange confidential information on medicines safety

The European Union institutions and Japan have recently signed an agreement to exchange confidential information about the authorisation and safety of medicines.
The confidentiality arrangements cover human medicines subject to evaluation, or authorised under the centralised authorisation procedure. Medicinal products authorised at national level by the EU Member States, that are subject to official EU arbitration and referrals will also be covered by the agreement. The confidentiality (...)

2006: fruitful year for complementary and alternative medicines at European level

In 2006, Complementary and Alternative medicines (CAM) have stepped up recognition at European level in the 7th Research Framework Programme and in the European Medicines Evaluation Agency. However the legal framework still needs improvement.
With regard to research, the CAM advocates have been successful in ensuring that EU funding for research, including homeopathy, is allocated in the 7th Research Framework Programme.
Within the European Medicines Agency, things have also moved ahead: (...)