Children and Adolescents

Impact of crises and conflict on sexual and reproductive health and rights

On 22 November 2007, the International Planned Parenthood Foundation, European Network (IPPF EN) will organise a seminar in Ljubljana on the "Impact of crises and conflict on sexual and reproductive health and rights: the EU needs to act!".
This seminar is organised by IPPF EN together with Slovene Philanthropy, World Population Found (UNFPA) in collaboration with the Slovenian NGO Platform (SLOGA) and the Slovenian Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
The seminar will take place in view of the (...)

Home Safety Campaign: protecting children from injuries

The European Child Safety Alliance has launched a ’Home safety campaign’ throughout Europe which aims to raise awareness of the injuries occuring to children in the home and to highlight the strategies that can be used to prevent these injuries.
The campaign combines actions to be taken at national level, as well as advocacy activities at European level (eg on RIP cigarettes, or the Alcohol strategy)
The campaign disseminates fact-sheets ranging from improvements in home design to home (...)

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 (...)

EPHA conference on Clean Environment - Healthy Children in Poland

EPHA organised a conference “Clean Environment - Healthy Children”, in partnership with the Foundation for Children from Copper Basin, in Legnica, Poland from 2 - 3 June 2006.
The aim of the conference was to organise a discussion forum for various organisations from Poland and other countries on actual public health topics and raise awareness on collaboration between organisations. The conference was devoted to childrens’ health and how environment affects it.
In total 100 (...)

New EU trade rules threaten the health of European babies

In July 2006 EU Member States gave way to the European Commission and voted to adopt a revised Directive on the composition and marketing of infant formulae and follow-on formulae wich relaxes the restrictions of the previous Directive.
According to European health, development and consumer organisations, the revised Directive has paved the way for the establishment of a harmful framework for marketing practices. The Directive will be published in the Official Journal in the autumn to be (...)

NGOs call a strong European Strategy on alcohol related harm

The European Commission is to publish the much-awaited EU strategy on reducing alcohol-related harm on the 25 october 2006. Leading national and European non-governmental organisations urge the European Commission to resist alcohol industry pressure to abandon its alcohol harm reduction strategy.
Notably, the calls come from a variety of organisations working on public health, alcohol prevention, social issues, child protection, gender-focused organisations (women and men), road and traffic (...)

Child Safety Good Practice Guide

Eurosafe, an EPHA member, has recently published a Good Practice Guide for Child Safety.
The need to tackle the child injury epidemic
Injury is the number one cause of death for children in every Member State in Europe, not cancer, not respiratory or heart illnesses, or meningitis. Child injury accounts for 36% of all deaths and has the largest environmental burden of disease, with an average of 20,000 deaths for children less than 15 years of age, every year. That is 3 children dying from (...)

REACH and breastfeeding: Breast is still the best

EPHA Environment Network, International Babyfood Action Network (IBFAN) and Friends of the Earth have joined forces to protect breastfeeding in the campaign for safer EU chemical policy, known as REACH
On Tuesday 27 June 2006, in the European Parliament, Friends of the Earth Europe launched “Toxic Inheritance”, a report revealing that traces of 300 man-made chemicals are found in breast milk.
The report examines studies that analyse breast milk to measure persistent pollutants (...)

Alcohol Policy Network in the Context of a Larger Europe: Bridging the Gap

A second phase of the Bridging the Gap project is currently being negotiated with the European Commission. The leading partner of the second phase will be the National Public Health Institute of Slovenia.
The project was funded by the European Commission for the years 2004-2006. It includes partners in 30 European countries as well as the World Health Organization (European Office), the European Youth Forum, the European Public Health Alliance and the European Cultural Foundation.
The BtG (...)

EPHA submits project proposal for “ECHANT”: European Child and Adolescent Health and Well-Being Network

The European Commission - Health and Consumer Protection DG - launched its Call for Proposals 2006 with a deadline for applications of 19 May.
Children and young people are one of the priority areas.
The European Public Health Alliance (EPHA) is an alliance of more than 100 non governmental and non for profit organisations working for health in Europe. We are currently leading a major EU funded project which will end up in December 2006 and we are involved in several other projects as (...)

EMEA guidelines on pharmacovigilance for paediatric medicines - EFA’s comments

The European Federation of Allergies and Airways Diseases Patients Associations (EFA) in cooperation with the International Primary Care Respiratory Group (IPCRG) submitted comments to the European Medicines Agency (EMEA) draft Guidelines on conduct of pharmacovigilance for medicines used by the paediatric population.
The EMEA launched such a consultation in order to prepare the implementation of the proposed EU paediatric medicines regulation.
EFA and IPCRG stressed the role of patients (...)

*UPDATED* Implementing child-resistant lighters in the EU: not so easy

*UPDATED* The European Commission has decided that non-child-resistant lighters are banned from the EU marketplaces.
As of the 14 March 2007, the EU required that lighters must be child-resistants. It also bans lighters which resemble objects that are attractive to children.
The deadline to comply with this regulation is the 11 March 2008.
Background
On the 08-09 February 2006, as requested by the Directive on the General Product Safety (GPSD) 2001/95/EC, the European Commission presented a (...)

A chemical health scare found in baby milk

A chemical health scare in baby milk triggers controversial reactions from health NGOs and the European Food Safety Agency
Before the Christmas break, Italian and Spanish authorities tested baby milk products and the results showed that the chemicals used in labels swept through the cartons into the milk.
According to EPHA Environment Network and Greenpeace, very little information is available about the safety of ITX, which is produced in quantities below 1,000 tonnes. However, it is (...)

EPHA Briefing on Mental Health

Mental health problems constitute the greatest burden of disease after cardiovascular diseases in Europe.
One in four Europeans will experience mental ill health issue at some time in their lives and more people commit suicide in the EU than suffer car accidents or murder. However, service provision is often inadequate and does not give people the help that they need.
The economic cost of mental health problems in the EU is conservatively estimated to be 3-4% of the gross national product (...)

Children at risk: Hearing to increase protection at EU level

EuroSafe’s European Child Safety Alliance organised a hearing on Child Safety on the 09 November 2005 in Brussels. It was chaired by the Member of the European Parliament (MEP) Philip Whitehead, (PES - UK and chair of the Committee on Internal Market and Consumers).
The aims of the event were to set up recommendations for four technological changes that are required to reduce the high percentage of child deaths in Europe: front car design, safer cigarette manufacturing, child-resistance (...)

Young people’s reproductive and sexual rights

EPHA is the Brussels-based partner of the project “SEXual Patients Rights Charter” (SEX-PARC) lead by the International Centre of Health Protection (HERA) based in Russia.
The project is funded under the European Commission Tacis Institution Building Partnership Programme (IBPP),
The main aim of the project is the development and adoption of a Charter of Rights of Sexual Patients for the promotion of sustainable health and social care system rendering the beneficiaries as (...)

How to improve school nutrition?

The average diet of children in England is quite alarmist. According to the National Diet and Nutrition Survey, children do eat more than twice the amount of saturated fat needed; more than twice salt and sugar needed; a quarter of fruits and vegetables needed;
In order to address this issue, the Welsh Food Alliance organises on the 02 and 23 September 2005 two round table discussions on school nutrition.
The aims are to raise awareness on school nutrition issues and to improve the (...)

Giving vulnerable road users a voice in Europe

A new European project called VOICE (Vulnerable road user organisations in cooperation across Europe) has been launched by the European Transport Safety Council and the following organisations:
AGE - the European Older People’s Platform
ANEC - the European consumer voice in standardisation
EPHA Environment Network
European Child Safety Alliance
EDF - European Disability Forum
EPHA - European Public Health Alliance
European Federation for Transport and Environment
The principle aim of (...)

EPHA Briefing Note: Alcohol and Young People

European countries are the largest consumers of alcohol worldwide. More than 55,000 people aged 15-29 across Europe die each year as a result of alcohol-related road accidents, poisoning, suicide and murders according to the World Health Organisation. The WHO reports that there is a general European trend toward wider tolerance, and even approval, among young people for intoxication.
Increasingly Young People are seen as market to be targeted by the Alcohol Industry. The introduction of (...)

EPHA Briefing on the Draft Proposal for Paediatric Medicines

EPHA Secretariat has prepared a briefing note on the draft ’Regulation on Medicinal products for Paediatric Use’ published by the European Commission on 29 September 2004.
Extensive testing is required on all medicines authorised for use in adults to ensure they are safe, of high quality and effective. However, more than 50% of the medicines currently used to treat children have neither been tested or authorised for paediatric use.
The aim of the regulation is to improve children’s health (...)

Call for urgent action on obesity in the UK

A new report on obesity in the UK argues that action needs to be taken at every possible level - national, local, community and as individuals, together with an understanding of the social and cultural factors that are behind the progressive increase in overweight and obesity.
Reducing and preventing obesity - everything must change is produced jointly by the Royal College of Physicians, the Faculty of Public Health, and the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health.
The UK has the (...)

Pregnant workers should be protected from smoke at work says BMA Report

Pregnant women who cannot be ensured protection from second-hand smoke at their place of work should be entitled to leave of absence on full pay for the duration of their pregnancy.
The Report by the British Medical Association (BMA) published on 11 February 2004, looks towards Directive 92/85/EEC, which provides health and safety measures for pregnant women at the work-place to provide the necessary protection from passive smoking.
The report concludes that:
women who smoke take longer to (...)

NGOs call on MEPs to stop misleading health claims on food

EPHA, the European Heart Network, Eurocare and EuroCoop have issued a joint statement on proposed EU Regulation on health and nutrition claims for food. The statement was released on 8 January 2004 at a public hearing in the European Parliament organised to gather stakeholder views on the Regulation.
The NGOs are calling upon MEPs to take account of these key public health issues when the Regulation goes to a vote in the Plenary session of March 2004.
Health and nutrition claims only to be (...)

WHO workshop on children’s environmental health advocacy

Diana Smith, EPHA’s Communication Director, was the facilitator and the rapporteur for the WHO workshop on "Advocacy and Information, Education and Communication for children’s environmental health" in Wroclaw, Poland (29 September-1 October).
The workshop defined advocacy and IEC, shared case studies of successful projects and identified key strategic links between sectors and (...)

Ad hoc meeting for the CEHAPE working group

During the 25-26 September 2003, ad hoc working group for the Children’s Environment and Health Action Plan for Europe (CEHAPE), held in Slovenia, EPHA was represented by Peter Helms from the European Respiratory Society (ERS).
Please find the report from the meeting and the provisional participants list in the "Members Only" area of the website

With a Bike to School - Project of SWF

The Sustainable World Foundation (SWF), a recent new member of the EPHA Environment Network, carried out the project "With a Bike to School" in Sofia, (Bulgaria) from November 2001 to September 2002.
The project aimed to follow up the Master urban plan of Sofia and to extend the biking lines already existing in the city centre. This would offer safer roads and new bike parkings to school children.
As a follow up, SWF would like to expand the project in the District of Mladost in Sofia, (...)

UKPHA participates in beating "diseases of inactivity"

The UK Public Health Association has taken part in WHO’s global consultation on a strategy for non-communicable diseases.
Non-communicable disease (NCD) is an awkward, obscure term, more usually thought of in terms of chronic disease, food-related disease or lifestyle diseases - what some have called the ’disease of inactivity’. There is little confusion about its impact though.
In the US, for example, NCDs are about to overtake smoking in terms of scale and cost. In that country in 2000 (...)

Campaign launched to keep young children safely in the swim

An EU-wide campaign has been launched to help curb the rising death toll of children drowned in accidents.
The campaign, by European Child Safety Alliance (ECOSA), is particularly aimed at Finland, Austria and the Netherlands, the three member states with the highest number of deaths.
As part of an awareness-raising exercise, information about how such accidents can be prevented will be distributed to the public.
ECOSA urges increased levels of supervision, use of lifejackets while (...)

Update 64, "A European approach to child health" - now available online

Every parent embarks on the greatest experiment of all. Quite literally. As children grow they are exceptionally vulnerable to the physical, social and emotional environment around them. But are we, European citizens, doing enough to protect children and ensure their good health?
In this issue:
Click on the titles below to get to the corresponding article A European approach to child health
Identifying the threats to children’s health in Europe
Interview: Dr Roberto (...)

WHO addresses children’s environmental health risk

The World Health Organization (WHO) has released its first ever report highlighting children’s special susceptibility to harmful chemical exposures at different periods of their growth.
This new volume of the WHO is in cooperation with the International Labour Organisation (ILO) and the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) within the International Programme on Chemical Safety. Published as part of the WHO Environmental Health Criteria series, Principles for Evaluating Health Risks in (...)

Mercury: towards an overall EU ban

In the framework of the European Commission, the EU mercury strategy launched in 2005 the European Parliament work on the mercury ban. First of all, on the 20 June 2007, the European Parliament plenary session approved a draft regulation on the banning of exports and the safe storage of mercury by 2010. Secondly, the plenary session of the European Parliament approved a mercury ban on measuring instruments for domestic use, with a two year exemption for barometer manufacturers. (...)

"Dirty air and your lungs"- a HEAL and ELF Factsheet for children

A Factsheet specifically designed for children has been produced and published by the European Lung Foundation and the Health & Environment Alliance in May 2007.
The Factsheet is part of the project “The Environment and Lung Disease” carried out jointly by the Health and Environment Alliance, the European Lung Foundation and the European Respiratory Society with the aim to inform children aged between 5 and 11 about outdoor air pollution, and in particular how outdoor air (...)

Awards highlight eco-tech measures that can save children’s lives

Fifteen top contestants demonstrated on 13 June 2007 in Vienna what a combination of simple technologies and community organisation can do to protect the environment for the sake of children’s health.
The awards
The prizes were presented during the first morning of the inter-governmental meeting in Vienna to assess progress in Children’s Environment and Health Plans for Europe, known as CEHAPE.
The five categories for the awards were based on CEHAPE’s four regional priority goals plus a (...)

2007 first UN Road Safety Week: improving road safety for young people

EU road safety day part of a week of road safety events promoted by the United Nations focusing on improving road safety for youth.
The United Nations has marked the first Global Road Safety week with a number of events and presentations around the world including, the EU road safety day on 27th April. The week had been called for by a UN General Assembly Resolution and its main theme was youth and road safety.
In 2004 the theme of World Health Day had been road safety and the UN road (...)

Pan-European Children’s Environment and Health: Best Practice Contest and Awards

A contest has been launched for the best projects in Pan-European Children’s Environment and Health to share inspiring, innovative and concrete activities that have made a difference in improving children’s environmental health across the 53 country that comprises the Pan European Region of the World Health Organization. DEADLINE: 27 April 2007
The contest, which is made possible thanks to the financial support of the Government of Austria aims to highlight some of the excellent projects (...)

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 (...)

Two Voice Mobility awards to local communities

The Voice project has given two awards for local communities or projects dedicated to promote the needs of disabled persons and improving road safety around schools.
The Voice project has given a Mobility award to Neil Betteridge, as chairman and representative of the Disabled Persons Transport Advisory Committee (DPTAC), for their work to promote the needs of disabled persons in the UK and to ensure that they have access to all modes of transport.
The second Voice Mobility award goes to (...)

Road Safety Award to a small town in England

The Voice project, of which EPHA is a partner, presented its annual award to promote good practice to protect vulnerable road users to Rob Tinlin, the mayor of Southen-on-Sea, on the Southern coast of England.
This award grants the efforts to promote road safety in the city. Mr Tinlin has particularly procured public-private partnership for investment in various infrastructure measures, including several designed for vulnerable road users.
Related awards
Road Safety award to car (...)

1/4 of all disease caused by environmental factors

A new World Health Organisation report concludes that 24% of global disease is caused by environmental exposure and therefore could be avoided.
The figures are even higher when children are concerned as 33% of diseases in children under the age of 5 are of environmental origin.
Entitled "Preventing disease through healthy environments", the report aims to be a comprehensive study of environmental hazards contributing to a wide range of diseases and injuries.
The authors estimate that more (...)

EEN wins Children’s Environmental Health Recognition Award

In March 2006, EPHA Environment Network received the Children’s Environmental Health Recognition Award from the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Office of Children’s Health Protection.
The prize intends to recognise ongoing and sustainable dedication and notable leadership in protecting children from environmental health risks at local, regional, national and international level. It was awarded to EPHA Environment Network for a youth participatory project entitled "It’s (...)

**UPDATED**Fact sheets on Vulnerable road users

UPDATED with the Irish fact sheet. The VOICE (Vulnerable Road User Organisations in cooperation across Europe) project, in which EPHA is a partner, publishes informative factsheets on vulnerable road users. The first two ones concern Belgium and the United Kingdom.
The fact sheets aims to identify areas of concern for road safety, look at examples of best practice and provide an information base for campaigners.
They will target the following countries:
Austria,
Belgium,
Czech (...)

Air pollution costs the EU 161 billion euros annually

Air pollution with particulate matter (PM) claims an average of 8.6 months from the life of every person in the European Union (EU).
The WHO Regional Office for Europe has highlighted the impact of air pollution on health and the financial costs.
Long-term exposure to PM is particularly damaging to human health and reduces life expectancy, and needs to be tackled as a priority. There would also be key financial benefits. For the EU, €58-161 billion could be saved if deaths from PM (...)

WHO states that children should not use sunbeds

The World Health Organisation has recommended that no one under the age of 18 should use an artificial tanning sunbed. It highlights that sunbed use poses a risk of skin cancer and young people who get burnt from exposure to UV will have greater chances of developing melanoma (the most dangerous form of skin cancer) later in life.
Worldwide, there are an estimated 66 000 deaths from malignant melanoma and other skin cancers annually. These figures continue to rise: in Norway and Sweden, (...)

A Decade of "Water for Life" launched on world water day

According to UN estimates, 2.6 billion people (42% of the world population) lack access to even basic sanitation facilities. Each year, 1.8 million people die from diarrhoeal diseases, mostly in developing countries.
The annual World Water Day, 22 March, marks a permanent effort to promote access to safe drinking-water and sanitation throughout the world. The 2005 World Water Day coincides with the launch of the UN International Decade for Action "Water for Life 2005-2015".
The Decade is (...)

Healthy Planet News, 24 June 2004 and EEN Director’s keynote address

Healthy Planet News
The Healthy Planet News newsletter is published daily during the Fourth Ministerial Conference on Environment and Health by a coalition of NGOs coordinated by the European Public Health Alliance Environment Network (EEN).
Please find below the PDF version of issue III - 24 June 2004. Today’s issue is focused on chemicals and the precautionary principle.
Previous issues:
23 June 2004
22 June 2004
Following issue:
25 June 2004
EEN Director keynote address at the (...)

Promotion of Breastfeeding in Europe: a Blueprint for Action

The Blueprint for Action to protect, promote and support breastfeeding across all European countries was launched in Dublin Castle on Friday 18 June 2004.
The decision to develop the Blueprint was based on overwhelming public health evidence showing that protecting, promoting and supporting breastfeeding is one of the most effective and efficient interventions for improving lifelong health. Breastfeeding makes a major contribution to the present and future health of children and their (...)

EEN Members News

Safer Environment for Children in Europe: Preliminary Programme
The European Child Safety Alliance will organise a workshop in Stockholm from 19 to 21 September 2004.
The workshop Safer Environment for Children in Europe will aim to discuss and debate three key questions:
What are our children s risks in the European Environment?
How can we change our environments so they are safer for children?
What solutions can we undertake together in Europe that will make our environment safer (...)

Public health impact of September 11 highlighted

The US National Institute of Environmental Health Science has published the results of monitoring the health impact of the destruction of the World Trade Centre on emergency workers and local residents.
The researchers noted show exposure-related increases in new-onset cough, wheeze, shortness of breath, and bronchial hyperreactivity more than 2 1/2 years after the disaster. In addition, follow-up of pregnant women who were inside or near the WTC buildings on September 11 found a two-fold (...)

Toxic Chemicals Contaminate American Houses

In the first nationwide tests for brominated fire retardants, known as PBDEs (polybrominated diphenyl ethers), the Environmental Working Group (EWG) found unexpectedly high levels of these neurotoxic chemicals in house dust. EWG’s tests indicate that consumer products such as computers, TVs, furniture, carpets and drapes, not industrial releases, are the most likely sources of the rapid buildup of PBDEs in people, animals and the environment. In particular, their findings raise concerns (...)

Major US study to analyse environmental impact on children’s health

A US National Children’s Study which will study 100,000 uterine children until they are 21 years old is planned to start in 2006.
The study is being planned by the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development in conjunction with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the Environmental Protection Agency and the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences.
The goal is to determine how environmental factors impact children’s health and which genes can make that (...)

15-18 million children suffer permanent brain damage from lead poisoning

A research study from the World Health Organisation (WHO) published on 25 March 2004 highlights that lead poisoning caused by chemicals and other environmental factors, such as indoor and outdoor air pollution, water and injuries, is linked to neuro-developmental problems and still threatens children.
15-18 million children in our countries suffer permanent brain damage from lead poisoning.
This research shows that up to one-third of children in Europe have "elevated" (more than 10ug/dl) (...)

Better protection for workers against electromagnetic waves

On 30 March 2004 the European Parliament adopted a new Directive to protect the health and safety of workers against the dangers of exposure to electromagnetic fields.
The Parliament, at second reading adopted only 5 amendments to the Council’s common position - and these amendments are apparently acceptable to the Council. Member States will have four years to enact the Directive into national law.
The Directive lays down maximum values for exposure to electromagnetic fields to protect the (...)

Last negotiations on children’s environment and health agenda

The fourth intergovernmental preparatory meeting on the health and environment process will take place in Malta on 25-26 March, 2004.
On the agenda will be discussions around the Children’s Environment and Health Action Plan (also known as CEHAPE) and whether or not a Table of Actions should be annexed to the ministerial document.
The CEHAPE contains four Regional Priority Goals that address four areas in which the highest burden of disease for children exists. This includes:
Access to (...)

Leaded petrol linked to schizophrenia

US scientists say they have found a link between exposure to lead in the womb and schizophrenia in adulthood writes the BBC News, UK edition, February 14, 2004.
The discovery is based on a study of blood samples taken from pregnant American women in the 1960s when lead was still widely used in vehicle fuel.
People whose mothers were exposed to high levels of the metal in exhaust fumes were more than twice as likely to develop schizophrenia as adults.
Dr Ezra Susser, from Columbia (...)

Consultation on children’s environmental health in Africa

On 4-6 February 2004 a technical consultation reviewed the national profiles on the status of children’s environmental health in six African countries.
This consultation took place in Cape Town, South Africa, and was hosted by the Medical Research Council of South Africa on behalf of the World Health Organisation Regional Office for Africa (AFRO).
WHO also launched a new publication on children’s environmental health indicators: "Making a difference: indicators to improve children’s (...)

Effects of mercury contamination of seafood in children’s health

Scientists at the Harvard School of Public Health announced on 3 February that methyl mercury contamination of seafood can cause heart and brain damage in children.
The study, published in the February 2004 issue of the Journal of Pediatrics, found that brain signals controlling heart rates were significantly slower in children whose mothers had the most mercury in their systems during their (...)

EC Environment and Health strategy, developments in December 203

The European Commission’s Consultative Forum on Environment & Health meeets in Brussels on 18-19 December 2003.
On the agenda are the 9 Baseline Reports produced by the Technical Working Groups (TWG) and which will be reviewed by the Consultative Forum on the basis of the "mandates" for the TWGs which are available on the following websites:
www.brussels-conference.org
www.rome-conference.org
www.environmentandhealth.org
The reports will also be assessed in light of the "vision" and (...)

US alert on arsenic in children’s playground equipment

The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has released preliminary findings on Chromated Copper Arsenate (CCA), a chemical mixture consisting of three pesticidal compounds (arsenic, chromium, and copper) registered for wood preservative uses. This follows public concern about the longterm health impact of treated wood in children’s outdoor play structures. The biggest risk is posed by hand-to-mouth contact with the treated wood. Concerned parents should ensure that children wash their (...)

NGO strategy conference: making our environment work for children’s health - final report now available online

An international "NGO Strategy Conference: Making our Environment Work for Children’s Health", jointly organised by the European Public Health Alliance and the European ECO-Forum, was held on the 15th-16th December 2003 in Brussels. The Final NGO Strategy Conference Report and the NGO Brussels Statement are now available below.
The conference brought together environmental, health, women, consumer and youth organisations to focus and bring new ideas to the preparations taking place for the (...)

EPHA views on latest version of Children’s Environment and Health Action Plan

New paragraph on prevention, equity and health promotion welcomed
The latest version of the Children’s Environment and Health Action Plan for Europe (CEHAPE) will be discussed at an inter ministerial Ad Hoc Working Group on the 15-16, December, 2003 in Brussels. EPHA will be represented by Peter Helms from EPHA member organisation, the European Respiratory Society.
The new version has several new elements that EPHA has supported including:
A new paragraph explicitly recognising the need to (...)

Intergovernmental forum on chemical safety

The fourth session of the Intergovernmental Forum on Chemical Safety (IFCS Forum IV), hosted by the Government of Thailand, was held in Bangkok, 1-7 November, 2003.
The key issues for the Conference were:
children and chemical safety
occupational safety and health
acutely toxic pesticides
hazard data generation
availability and a review of capacity building assistance
Agenda of the (...)

EEN Newsletter for August-September 2003 now available online

Dear colleagues,
Welcome to the EPHA Environment Network (EEN) Newsletter!
The EEN is a new umbrella platform that brings together health and environment non-governmental organisations from the not-for-profit sector to join up on policy-making at a European level. The secretariat is currently hosted by the European Public Health Alliance (EPHA), one of EEN’s founding members.
Over the next nine months, both the EU and the wider European Region will be preparing significant action plans and (...)

Report on WHO meeting on precautionary policies and health

A report by Antoaneta Yoveva (Sustainable World Foundation) who attended the "WHO Meeting on Precautionary Policies and Health" on 12-13 September 2003, at the "Agence Française de Sécurité Sanitaire Environnementale" in Paris is available at the "Members Only" section of this website.
Members only: environment and health

Ninth meeting of the EEHC

The European Environment and Health Committee (EEHC), the steering group for the Budapest Conference, meets in Prague, Czech Republic, from 9-10 October 2003 to discuss the rapid progress in the many events and initiatives now building up to Budapest, and the major policy outcomes for the Conference.
The place on the agenda for issues of increasing concern such as the effects on health of extreme events related to the climate in Europe, such as heat and floods, is also an issue for the (...)

Children suffer most from the effects of ozone depletion

WHO, UNEP and other partners launch new educational products to address public health danger.
Every year, there are between two and three million new cases of non-malignant melanomas and more than 130 000 new melanoma skin cancer cases worldwide. An estimated 66 000 deaths occur annually from melanoma and other skin cancers.
The cause of many of these skin cancers is ultraviolet radiation (UV) from the sun. Children, who are both most vulnerable and most exposed, are disproportionately (...)

WHO comments on the health effects of extreme weather events

Experts say the factors behind France’s heat wave this summer are common in Europe and North America - and higher temperatures linked to global warming mean a similar disaster could easily happen again.
"We have to recognize that in the next years and decades, these episodes of heat waves will even be more frequent, sometimes even more severe", said Roberto Bertollini, an environmental health expert with the World Health Organization.
The country is far from fully figuring out why so many (...)

Flame retardant chemical found in breast milk

3rd International Conference on Children’s Health and the Environment

The International Network on Children’s Health, Environment and Safety (INCHES) and the PINCHE - project (Policy Interpretation Network on Children’s Health and Environment - QLK4-2002-02395)) have organised the "3rd International Conference on Children’s Health and the Environment: Putting children into science and policy", for 31 March - 2 April 2004, at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, London, United (...)

WHO discussion forum on health of children and adolescents

With the ocassion of the Fifty-third session of the WHO Regional Committee for Europe meeting on 8-11 September in Viena, a discussion forum has been created and RC delegates, as well as national counterparts and others are invited to comment on the planned strategy on the health of children and adolescents.
The discussion forum will be open until 11 October 2003.
Dr Gudjon Magnusson (WHO) presented a paper on the "Health of children and (...)

Pollution particles found to have large impact on infant health

Tiny particles (called total suspended particulates (TSPs)), in the air probably have a greater impact on infant health than has previously been realized.
"The Impact of Air Pollution on Infant Mortality: Evidence from Geographic Variation in Pollution Shocks Induced by a Recession" is a joint study by a University of Chicago economist specializing in environmental regulation and his colleague at the University of California (Berkeley).
The particles range in size from barely visible dust (...)

NGO website ’Healthy Planet’ launched

NGOs are preparing for their parallel meeting to coincide with the Fourth Ministerial Conference on Environment and Health to be held in Budapest in June 2004.
The Healthy Planet Forum 2004, will take place in June 22-25, , has a new website with news, ideas, information exchange and a mailing list.
Ideas for workshops, exhibitions and other contributions from civil society are (...)

Negotiations begin on action plan to protect children’s health from environmental risks

Over 100 representatives from health and environment ministries from across Europe met to begin discussions on how to best protect children from environmental hazards. This took place in the context of the Second Intergovernmental Preparatory Meeting for the Budapest Fourth Ministerial Conference on Environment and Health on 26-27 June in Stockholm, Sweden.
One of the main topics under discussion was the draft Children’s Environment and Health Action Plan, which lists environmental risk (...)

New listserves on Environment and Health

WHO has launched a monthly listserve to provide updates on news and developments from many sectors during the buildup to the Fourth Ministerial Conference.
"The future for our children" is the theme of the Conference.
Ministers of health and of environment from 51 countries across the WHO European Region will be making decisions on children’s environment and health, including the adoption of a children’s environment and health action plan for Europe.
Subscribe to WHO listserver
Find (...)

Stakeholder consultation on new EU Environment and Health Strategy

On 11 July 2003 the European Commission is organising a consultation meeting on the newly published Environment and Health strategy (see earlier article).
The goal of the meeting is to discuss the workprogramme for 2003-2004, set out the parameters of the consultation exercise and to identify technical working groups on key issues.
The deadline for registering is 5 July 2003.

EU Environment and Health Strategy Published

The European Commission has just published an Environment and Health Strategy to tackle the key diseases linked with environmental causes.
A joint publication of the Directorates for Health, Environment and Research, the document sets out a long-term vision.
The first phase (2003 - 2010) will focus on four key health concerns: childhood respiratory diseases, neurodevelopment disorders, childhood cancers and endocrine disruptor effects.
Download the Commission Strategy and read the (...)

MEPs discuss a strategy to protect children’s rights

On Tuesday 15 January 2008, MEPs debated how to strengthen a European Strategy to protect the rights of children. The Parliament called for tougher measures to combat paedophilia on the Internet as well as to tackle child sex tourism and child labour.
European Parliamentarians in plenary session adopted the Roberta Angelilli report on the Commission’s Communication "Towards an EU Strategy on the Rights of the Child".
The strategy calls for children’s rights to be mainstreamed in all (...)

The German presidency focuses on families

The German presidency has prioritised ’families’ during its presidency with two initiative: a Communication on ’promoting solidarity between generations’ and the launch of an Alliance for Families.
According to the Communication, support to families is key to reach the Lisbon Agenda and meet the demographic challenges.
Therefore the European Commission seeks to assess how families can be best supported to have the number of children they desire. It emphasises the importance of gender (...)

*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 (...)

Eurobarometer report on attitudes towards alcohol

The European Commission released a pan-European survey on attitudes towards alcohol, which shows that people who participated in the survey generally favour measures that aim to protect vulnerable groups and reduce alcohol-related road fatalities.
A vast majority of respondents (73%) would welcome the introduction of a lower blood alcohol level for young and novice drivers. It should be noted that a recent European Parliament report on road safety called for zero-tolerance on the matter.
In (...)

EU Daphne and Progress programmes - Opportunities for funding

In January 2007, the Commission officially launched two framework programmes for 2007-2013, where health-related issues are to be addressed: PROGRESS, the EU employment and social programmes and DAPHNE III, which aims to fight against violence.
PROGRESS
The PROGRESS programme (2007-2013) has a budget of over €700 million and will offer core funding for social European-level NGOs. However, a lot of the budget is committed expenditure.
PROGRESS will incorporate the previous four action (...)

Towards an EU strategy on the Rights of the Child

In July 2006, the European Commission adopted a Communication that is generally seen as a major step forward towards the recognition of children’s rights.
Entitled “Towards an EU strategy on the Rights of the Child” the communication proposes to establish a comprehensive EU strategy to effectively promote and safeguard the rights of the child in the EU’s internal and external policies and to support Member States efforts in this field. The stratgy takes a transversal and (...)

EU calls for Sun Bed Regulation

The use of ultraviolet-radiation devices, tanning lamps and sunbeds, to achieve and maintain cosmetic tanning, is likely to increase the risk of malignant melanoma (a serious type of skin cancer), according to an opinion of the Scientific Committee on Consumer Products (SCCP) to the European Commission.
The SCCP adopted their report entitled "Biological effects ofultraviolet radiation relevant to health with particular reference to sunbeds for cosmetic purposes" in June 2006.
The 43 page (...)

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

MEPs call for Commission action on autism

On 18 January 2005, the Committee for Environment, Public Health and Food Safety in the European Parliament discussed the issue of monitoring autism in the EU raised by the open question to the Commission posed by Kathy Sinnott (ID, IRL).
The Commission representative said that the Commission was not monitoring or planning to monitor the incidence of autism throughout the EU. However, one of the priorities of the 2005 Work Plan for the implementation of the Public Health Programme concerns (...)

Conclusions of the Health Council, June 2004

The Health Council met on 1-2 June 2004 in Luxemburg to revise negotiating directives for the Commission in respect of the revision of International Health Regulations (IHR) within the framework of the World Health Organisation (WHO).
The Council also adopted a Decision concerning the conclusion on behalf of the Community of the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC).
The Council held a debate on the need to promote heart health and adopted several conclusions (see minutes of (...)

EU list of hazardous non-food products

The European Commission has started to publish a weekly alert notice on product safety issues across the EU.
On 15 January 2004 the revised General Product Safety Directive came into force. The European Commission generally receives two to four safety alerts from Member States every week through the EU-wide ’rapid alert system’, called RAPEX. The type of products most often cited in these alerts are toys followed by other products aimed at children. The concern for most of these products (...)

World Health Day 2003

"Healthy Environments for Children" is the title of this year’s World Health Day, which will take place on April 7.
EPHA will also be launching its booklet, "A Healthier Future for Europe’s Children" which includes comments from WHO Europe’s Regional Director, Marc Danzon, and Environment Commissioner Margot Wallstrom.
EPHA aims to widely disseminate this booklet on April 7 to national and European press and other contacts, and generate as much media interest as possible. (...)

EPODE - Together Let’s Prevent Childhood Obesity

On 27 June the EPODE European Coordination Unit organised the first EPODE Mayors’ Club European congress in collaboration with the European Commission (DG Health and Consumers). EPODE is a methodology designed to involve all relevant local stakeholders in an integrated and concrete prevention program aimed at facilitating the adoption of healthier lifestyles in the everyday life.
EPODE Background Information
EPODE (Together Let’s Prevent Childhood Obesity) is a methodology designed (...)

**Update** New version of the EU School Milk Scheme has been adopted.

On 8 July 2008, the European Commission adopted the new EU School Milk Scheme proposal, applying from August 2008. The Commission stated that this new EU School Milk Scheme will benefit a larger number of children and has increased attention with regards to a healthier diet and eating habits for children.
Background
On 26 September 2007, the Council adopted a package of measures that introduced a flat-rate subsidy for the European School Milk Scheme. This meant that for the first time, (...)

Own-initiative report on obesity adopted unanimously by European Parliament

The disturbing trend of rising obesity rates must be stopped, said the European Parliament’s Environment, Public Health and Food Safety Committee (ENVI) in a new report giving suggestions on how to approach the problem.
The ENVI Committee adopted an own-initiative report on obesity by MEP Alessandro Foglietta, unanimously.
Obesity has great costs on both quality of life and the economy. It already accounts, directly, for about 6% of health spending but the indirect costs are much higher, (...)

**Updated** Food additives such as ’Azo dyes’ require a warning label.

This article has been updated in May 2008 following the vote in the Environment, Public Health and Food Safety (ENVI) Committee of the food additives proposal.
In May 2008, the ENVI Committee in the European Parliament, voted in the second reading of the food additives proposal a requirement for an azo dye warning label following the publication of the Southampton Study. The Southampton Study linked six artificial food colours and the preservative sodium benzoate to hyperactivity in (...)

Which? warns about cartoons labelled in unhealthy food

Which?, the largest consumer body in the UK, has published the Cartoon Heroes and Villains report to reveal how these characters are used to push children towards foods high in fat, sugar or salt.
The report was launched on 9 August 2007 and agrees with the results of a survey conducted by Which? on 21 August 2007, showing that 75% of parents feel that their efforts to make their children eat healthier are undermined by this kind of labelling.
http://www.which.co.uk/files/applic... Which? (...)

Meeting EU Platform on Diet, Physical Activity and Health, July 2007

Find here the supporting documents from the February plenary meeting of the EU Platform on Diet, Physical Activity and Health of July 2007.
An important document discussed at this meeting was the future of the Platform beyond 2007.
DG Sanco distributed a discussion paper two days before the meeting took place, and the participants gave their general opinion about the future of the Platform.
Members of the platform are also allowed to send written comments before the end of July 2007, so the (...)

How to tackle obesity by local actions?

Tackling overweight and obesity requires actions at several levels, including at local level. The National Heart Forum (NHF), an EPHA member, and the Faculty of Public Health published a new toolkit with useful statistics, practical initiatives, evidence of effectiveness, checklists, frameworks and examples of good practice.
"Lightening the load: Tackling overweight and obesity" has been designed to provide a starting point for developing a local strategy to combat overweight and obesity (...)

Junk food: Evolution of the legislation in European countries

More and more countries in Europe are adopting legislation on the availability or advertising of unhealthy food. This article will be updated regularly on the progress of European countries on the matter. If you believe there have been new developments, do not hesitate communicating it to Silvia Marcos Simon.
France
In 2005, vending maching selling soft drinks and chocolate bars were banned from schools in France.
Since the beginning of March 2007, advertisements for unhealthy food and (...)

*UPDATED* Towards banning junk food advertising? The UK debates

*UPDATED with the results of the consultations:* The British media regulator OFCOM ruling bans junk food advertising during programmes targeted at under-16s. However, health advocates feel these restrictions are not enough. The debate is closely linked with European revision of the Television Without Frontiers Directive.
After extensive research and public consultation, Ofcom, have put forward restrictions which are intended to limit children’s exposure to television advertising of food and (...)

New Which? report exposes UK companies who market junk food to children

The new campaign report, entitled "Fables: Exploding industry myths on responsible food marketing to kids", names and shames UK food companies who are targeting children as consumers of junk food.
This research, published by Which? in November 2006, reveals that leading food companies in the UK are increasingly marketing junk food to children, despite concerns about rising rates of obesity and diet-related disease.
According to the independent consumer protection group Which?, many of these (...)

*Updated*Promotion of healthy food in Latvia’s schools

The Latvian government has introduced thougher limits to the availability of unhealthy foods at schools and kindergardens by establishing nutrient profiles.
Existing health and safety legislation regarding schools and kindergardens, introduced by the Ministry of Health, has been amended to include reference to the availability of junk food in these settings.
According to recent data, the food for sale in educational institutions has become more and more unhealthy. As a direct consequence, (...)

Nordic Plan of Action on Health, Food and Physical Activity

The Nordic Council of Ministers have released an Action Plan on health, food and physical activity which includes specific Nordic initiatives as well as a number of common positions on issues that are currently being discussed in the EU and WHO.
The Nordic Plan of Action is a joint venture between two ministries of the Nordic Council - the ministry of Fisheries and Aquaculture, Agriculture, Foodstuffs, and Forestry and the ministry for Social Security and Health Care.
The Nordic Action (...)

Protecting Children from Internet and TV marketing - Calls for Action

Children are being targeted by junk food manufacturers through internet advertising, chatrooms, text messages and "advergames" on websites, according to a report from the International Obesity Task Force.
The International Obesity Task Force (IOTF) report details how new forms of advertising are increasingly being employed which bypass parental control to target children directly.
Exploitative marketing techniques is an growing reality. The increasing use of the internet among chidren, (...)

Tackling obesity in infancy

There is compelling evidence that breastfeeding reduces the risk of obesity during childhood. While short-term benefits of breastfeeding are well established, possible long-term benefits beyond two years of age have been documented recently.
Obesity has become a frequent nutritional disorder in children. It is an important risk factor for cardiovascular disease in adulthood.
Breastfeeding’s beneficial effects on later cardiovascular risk factors including blood pressure and plasma lipid (...)

World’s biggest 25 food companies not taking health seriously enough

A team of researchers from City University London’s centre for food policy compared the recommendations of the WHO’s global strategy on diet, physical activity and health with the actions of 25 major players in the food industry. The results are worrying.
Among others, the WHO strategy makes a series of nine recommendations to the food industry on measures to improve diet and promote a healthy lifestyle.
The Report ‘The Food Industry, Diet, Physical Activity and Health: a Review (...)

Food Marketing to Children and Youth: Threat or Opportunity?

A recent report by the US Institute of Medicine concludes that the marketing creativity of the food industry could be used to promote healthy foods and gives them practical tips to do so.
The US Institute of Medicine, through the Food and Nutrition Board and the Board on Children, Youth, and Families, undertook a comprehensive study of the science-based effects of food marketing on the diets and health of children and youth in the United States: "Food Marketing to Children and Youth: Threat (...)

Breast feeding on the EU agenda

The Baby Feeding Law Group (BFLG) calls for action to promote breast feeding at UK and European levels.
Call for action on the Uk health and education bill
With regard to a United Kingdom health and Education bill which would allow business sponsorhip of education materials, they recently intensified action and sent several letters to several Minsiters and Secretaries of State ( Health - Patricia Hewitt, Public Health Minister, Caroline Flint and Education and skills, Ruth Kelly). They warn (...)

Report on marketing of foods to children

The independent consumer protection group Which? has recently published a report entitled "Childcatchers: the tricks used to puch unhealthy food to your children".
The report identifies more than 40 different marketing methods used to encourage children to eat foods high in fat, sugar and salt, ranging from product placement in films to text (or SMS) marketing.
The report also higlights the need for tighter controls in this area that address all forms of advertising and promotion to (...)

*UPDATED* Destroying myths and misunderstandings of the EU health claims Regulation

*UPDATE*: The regulation on food and health claims was published in the Official Journal in December 2006.
EPHA is closely following the developments in the EP of the Commission’s draft Regulation on nutrition and health claims made on foods.
Articles 4 and 11 are the most controversials (on nutrition profiles and implied health claims).
Three Committees of the EP were in charge of writing reports and opinions on the Commission proposal. Although there was a general agreement amongst (...)

Finnish recommendations to protect children from food marketing

The Finnish Consumer Agency and the Consumer Ombudsman, together with the Finnish National Public Health Institute have published principles for advertisers on food marketing aimed at children.
The report first acknowledges that quantity and content of advertisement affect consumption and thus the healthy development of children. Hence formulates recommendations that take into account the health perspective and the vulnerability of children.
One of the first recommendations sets out that (...)

Watching TV increases the risk of obesity

Time spent watching television is a significant predictor of obesity in childhood, suggests a recent study published in the International Journal of Obesity.
Television viewing should be considered as an important factor leading to childhood obesity, since children are less active and tend to eat while watching TV.
This common feeling is now confirmed by a study, led by researchers at New Zealand’s University of Otago, which shows that the 41% who suffer from overweight or obesity by (...)

EFSA highlights the dangers of eating too much salt

The European Food Safety Authority’s (EFSA) Panel on dietetic products, nutrition and allergies (NDA) has issued an opinion on the Tolerable Upper Intake Level of Sodium, warning that salt increases blood pressure, a major risk factor in heart disease and premature death.
The panel stated that althoufh sodium is an essential nutrient, most Europeans’ daily intake of sodium (8-11g) far exceeds the daily recommended allowance of 1.5g. The major sources of sodium in diet are processed (...)

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

Robert Madelin, Director General of the European Commission’s DG Sanco, chaired on 1 July 2005 the second meeting of the European Platform on Diet, Nutrition and Physical Activity.
The Commission also reported back to Platform members the conclusions of the Health Council meeting of 3 June, mentioning that obesity was one of the top priorities on the national agendas.
The Commission outlined the structure of the online "Baseline" document which would be used to collect the information about (...)

*UPDATED* Consultation on the revison of the Directive on Infant Formula

The Directive on Infant Formulae is now published.
According to IBFAN, the main shortcomings of the Directive are related to the marketing of infant formulae and follow-on formulae. Under the new Directive, the European Commission has the power to adopt legislation on specialized foods (including baby foods) without having to consult the EU Parliament. The framework might be harmful as health can be undermined by marketing practices without the direct consultations with the EU Parliament. (...)

Preparatory meeting for the Platform on Diet, Physical Activity and Health

A preparatory meeting to lauch the "Platform on Diet, Physical Activity and Health" was organised on the 15 February by DG Sanco.
This meeting included the members of the Obesity Round Table plus around 20 suggested additional participants and responsibles for health issues of the Permanent Representations of the EU Member States to the EU (involved in the preparation of Health Council meetings).
Amongst these suggested additional participants was EPHA.
DG Sanco’s report to the (...)

Second meeting of the Obesity Round Table looks at best practice

The second meeting of DG SANCO’s Roundtable on obesity was held on 29 October 2004 and focused on sharing best practice on food labelling, marketing and product development.
Chaired by SANCO Director Robert Madelin, the meeting was a follow-up to the first Roundtable meeting on obesity organised in July 2004. Participants included NGOs, the WHO, food industry and consumer groups. The first meeting outlined the areas for discussion as regulation, data, communication and information, food (...)

EU and US Laws on food labelling for common allergens

The Food Allergen Labeling and Consumer Protection Act (FALCPA) has been adopted by the US Government and will come into force on 1 January 2006. It is designed to help consumers to easily identify safe and unsafe foods.
The Act requires food labels to identify in plain English if the product contains any of the eight major food allergens responsible for over 90% of all allergic reactions- milk, eggs, fish, crustacean shellfish, peanuts, tree nuts, wheat and soybeans. The law covers all (...)

First meeting of DG Sanco’s "Obesity Round Table"

On 20 July 2004, the Directorate General Health and Consumer Protection (DG Sanco) of the Euroepan Commission organised the first meeting of the Obesity Round Table, with the aim of providing a forum for open and informal discussions on approaches to tackle the obesity epidemic.
In his introductory statement, Robert Madelin, Director General and Chairman of the Round Table, underlined that obesity is to be considered as a core health issue and, as such, it will be a high priority for the (...)

US doctors issue guidelines to safe fish consumption

US health professional organisations "Physicians for Social Responsibility" (PSR) and the Association of Reproductive Health Professional (ARHP) have released on 18 June 2004 guidelines to safe fish consumption written by doctors.
The guides urge women of child-bearing age and children to avoid fish that are highest in mercury and PCBs.
These guidelines follow the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) recently announced guidelines.
According (...)

Obesity in children and young people: A crisis in public health

A new report from the World Health Organisation (WHO) reveals that overweight affects 1 in 10 children worldwide.
The report, "Obesity in children and young people: A crisis in public health", has been issued by the International Obesity Task Force (IOTF) of the WHO in co-operation with the Iternational Association for the Study of Obesity (IASO) in May 2004.
Around 30-45 million within that figure are classified as obese - accounting for 2-3% of the world’s children aged 5-17.
A further (...)

UNICEF calls for urgent food fortification for the developing world

As many as a third of the world’s people do not meet their physical and intellectual potential because of vitamin and mineral deficiencies, according to a report released in New York by UNICEF and The Micronutrient Initiative.
The report is accompanied by individual Damage Assessment Reports that present the most comprehensive picture to date of the toll being taken by vitamin and mineral deficiency in 80 developing countries.
The document sets out the implications of inadequate quantities (...)

WHO book on food and nutrition in Europe

The World Health Organisation has published a new book on the components of food and nutrition policies and the evidence supporting them.
Food and Health in Europe: a basis for action describes food- and nutrition-related ill health and its costs, shows the need for action and describes the steps for policy-makers to take. The book and associated executive summary highlights the urgent need for integrated, multisectoral food and nutrition policies to encourage the sustainable production of (...)

Uk launches consultation on food ads to children

The obesity time bomb prompts new debate in the UK
The Food Standards Agency launches an online consultation with British consumers to explore the efficacy of banning advertsing specifically targeted at children.
This follows the publication of a new report by the FSA which shows a direct link between advertsing, and purchasing and consumption of food products.
The FSA rightly stresses that advertising is not just about television images, but also includes radio, text messages, (...)

US report recommends steps to reduce dietary dioxin exposure

A panel of scientists, organized by the Institute of Medicine, a national advisory agency within the National Academy of Sciences in the US, has issued the report, Dioxins and Dioxin-like Compounds in the Food Supply: Strategies to Decrease Exposure
The report advises the government to develop an interagency plan to reduce human exposure to dioxin in foods. The expert panel made the lowering of dioxin levels in girls and young women before they have children a high priority, noting that it (...)

Commissioner Byrne at the Children and Nutrition Congress

Last 8th July, David Byrne, European Commissioner for Health and Consumer Protection, gave a speech on "Food for thought - nutrition and public health policy" at the Children and nutrition Congress, Berlin.
Full speech

Report on Marketing of Food to Children

The World Health Organisation (WHO) has indicated to the International Association of Consumer Food Organization (IACFO) that it welcomes a report on the marketing of food to children, as part of WHO’s consultation process on food strategy.
This report will include data on the marketing of food to children from several countries across the world. The Food Commission, an independent non-governmental organisation campaigning for safer, healthier food for all, is coordinating the report; (...)

Seminar on "Global Substantive Health Issues". 5-6 June 2008

The Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) will hold a seminar on "Global Substantive Health Issues" on 5 and 6 June 2008. The seminar will take place at the University of Warwick.
Links between health and human rights have historically been two-fold. First, in terms of access to health care. Second, where human rights abuses, such as torture, have impacted upon health (Mann et al 1999a).
More recently, wider public health issues are also being addressed using rights-based approaches. (...)

The European Child Safety Alliance (ECSA) evaluates the performances of 18 European countries on child and adolescent safety

On 20 November 2007, MEP Arlene McCarthy, Chair of the Internal Market and Consumer Protection Committee, hosted a press conference to release the major findings of the Child Safety Report Cards outlined by Mrs Joanne Vincenten, director of ECSA and co-author of the review. The summoning of the event was welcomed by representatives from the European Commission, UNICEF and WHO. An 11 year-old girl, Amber Kemp from the Decroly primary school, lead a safety quiz. Daniela Negri from EPHA (...)

EUREGHA’s Summer Conference - Health and Nutrition in EU

The European Regional and Local Health Authorities Platform (EUREGHA) organised this summer 2007 the conference Health and Nutrition in the Regions of Europe that took place on 5 July in the Committee of the Regions, Brussels.
The EUREGHA conference focused on exploring regional nutrition best practice examples from across the European Union.
During the event, the European Commission presented two nutrional initiatives, the White Paper on a strategy for Europe on nutrition, overweight and (...)

Sexuality education in Europe - A reference guide

The International Planned Parenthood Federation (IPPF) European Network, in collaboration with the Lund University, Sweden and the WHO Regional Office for Europe, and with financial support from the European Commission, has issued a new publication on sexuality education in Europe.
Launched in Copenhagen, at a High-Level Consultation Conference on Improvement of Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights of Young People in Europe, on the 12 December 2006, Sexuality education in Europe - A (...)

Launch of the UN Millennium Project report

On 17 January 2005, the Millennium Project - an advisory body to the UN that brings together 265 of the world’s leading development experts - published a report "Investing in Development".
The report proposes a package of specific cost-effective measures that would allow to cut extreme poverty by half and radically improve the lives of at least one billion people in the developing countries by 2015.
In the field of health, the report highlights the following challenges:
Child and maternal (...)

Commission’s Joint Report on Social Protection and Inclusion

On 29 February 2008 the Employment, Social Policy, Health and Consumer Affairs Council (EPSCO) Council and the European Commission jointly adopted the 2008 Joint Report on Social Protection and Social Inclusion
Backgroung
The report is based on the Commission proposal for the Joint Report presented on 30th January 2008 (COM/2008/0042final), and adopted with some changes at the 5 February meeting of the Social Protection Committee. The report focuses on priorities and progress made in the (...)

New recommendations on ethical aspects of clinical trials in children

The ad hoc group for the development of implementing guidelines for Directive 2001/20/EC has published new Recommendations on children in clinical trials . The purpose of the Recommendations is to protect children and to harmonized the application of such trials across the European Union.
On 4 April 2005, the European Parliament and the Council launched the Directive 2001/20/EC related to good clinical practice in the conduct of clinical trials on medicinal products for human use.
The ad (...)

Major review of child safety in 18 countries

On 20 November 2007, the European Child Safety Alliance plans to launch a major review of child safety in 18 European countries.
The aim of this launch is to communicate the safety review findings to influential policy makers and stakeholders at both the EU and national level so that they can take action. The launch will take place in the European Parliament and will be hosted by MEP Arlene McCarthy, Chair of the Committee on the Internal Market and Consumer Protection.
In addition to (...)

Teen drinking leads to risk of alcoholism and social exclusion

A recent study reports that teen binge drinkers are more likely to use drugs, to become alcoholics and to be convicted of a criminal offense.
The Institute of Child Health released a study of 11,000 children who were born in 1970 and monitored at the age of 16 and 30. At the age of 30, participants were asked to describe their levels of heavy drinking based specific criteria:
Weekly consumption
Illicit drug use
Mental health problems
Educational achievement and employment
Personal history (...)

**Updated** Mattel recalls dangerous Chinese toys

This article has been updated with the Press release about Toy Safety(12 September 2007), the Third Mattel recall (September 2007) and the European Commission press release to carry out two month review of toy safety controls (September 2007)
The toys enterprise Mattel Inc. has launched a third large-scale recall of dangerous toys made in China on September 2007, after the two previous ones of August, that highlights the risks of lead pigments and magnets for children.
The third Mattel (...)

Report against baby milk advertising

National Childbirth Trust (NCT), Save the Children and UNICEF UK, published a report, A weak formula for legislation: how loopholes in the law are putting babies at risk, to ask UK Government to stop formula milk promotion, on 7 August 2007.
The report was released during the World Breastfeeding Week and coincided with the Government and the Food Standards Agency’s current review of existing legislation.
The three organisations are calling on the UK Government to strengthen the 1995 UK law (...)

EMEA kicks off the implementation process of the Paediatric Regulation

EMEA has updated its website with practical information and templates to facilitate compliance with the Paediatric Regulation with respect to Paediatric Investigation Plans.
As part of its implementation of the Paediatric Regulation that came into force in the European Union on 26 January 2007, the European Medicines Agency (EMEA) has now made the following information available:
Templates to use when applying for a paediatric investigation plan, deferral or waiver.
Information on (...)

European forum on the rights of the child launched

European Commission Vice President Franco Frattini, responsible for Justice, Freedom and Security launched on 4 June 2007 the “European Forum on the Rights of Child” created to look to the future, in cooperation with the German presidency of the European Union.
The EU Strategy to promote and safeguard the rights of the child which was issued in 2006 by the European Commission, proposed the establishment of a permanent “European Forum on the Rights of the Child".
The (...)

A New NGO Action Group on the EU Child Rights Strategy

A new NGO action group has been set up to monitor the EU’s strategy on the rights of the child.
On 17 April, a hearing on the European Commission’s Communication "towards an EU strategy on the rights of the child" was held in the European Parliament. The NGO Action Group prepared a set of key messages to be distriibuted at the hearing.
The International Federation Terre Des Hommes, World Vision, the European Foundation for Street Children Worldwide, Save the Children, EURONET, Eurochild, (...)

*UPDATED* The Revised "Television Without Frontiers" Directive - the public health concerns

A proposal to update the EU’s 1989 "TV without Frontiers" Directive, to keep pace with rapid market developments in Europe’s audiovisual sector, was tabled by the European Commission in December 2005. Among other things, it will regulate advertising on television.
On 13 December 2005, after several public consultations, the European Commission adopted the legislative proposal for the revision of the “Television Without Frontiers” Directive (Directive 97/36/EC). The Commission (...)

Health included in UNICEF report on Child Well-being

The UNICEF launched the 7th Innocenti Report Card on the well-being of children in rich countries. For the first time the Report Card considers children’s health as an important dimension for assessing child well-being.
The report "Child Poverty in Perspective: An overview of child well-being in rich countries-" offers a comprehensive assessment of the lives and well-being of children and adolescents in the World’s economically advanced nations, based on the UN Convention on the Rights of (...)

Television Without Frontiers: an opportunity to protect minors

EPHA, the European Heart Network, Eurocare (the European Alcohol Policy Alliance, the Pharmaceutical Group of the EU, and the European Respiratory Society are jointly calling on the European Parliament to vote for a healthier media framework.
The European Parliament will start voting on the 03 October on the revision of the Television Without Frontiers. Despite much debate on the issue, we are still far from implementing an audiovisual framework that would fully protect under age children. (...)

Less tobacco and more alcohol consumed by French youngsters

The French interministerial mission against drugs and dependency reviews on a bi-annual basis the drug use of young people. It concludes that although the consumption of tobacco decreases, the alcohol use is alarming.
The ESCAPAD survey is carried out using a sample of more than 30 000 young people aged 17 and collects data on tobacco, alcohol and cannabis consumption.
Results on tobacco are encouraging as the daily consumption of tobacco has significantly decreased. However, 72% of the (...)

Combating alcohol-related harm in Europe - evidence of effective and cost-effective measures

Two major reports have been published in June 2006: the World Health Organisation European Region Framework on Alcohol policy and the report ’Alcohol in Europe’
Both documents are released timely to contribute to the forthcoming EU Strategy on alcohol due to be adopted in September 2006. They give recommendations about cost-effective measures to tackle alcohol-related harm and abuses.
Alcohol in Europe
The report analysis the situation of alcohol in Europe: the health burden, the impact on (...)

**UPDATED** The EU adopts a regulation on medicines for children

The adoption of the regulation on medicinal products for paediatric use took place in October 2006.
On 29 September 2004 the European Commission adopted a proposal for a regulation on medicinal products for paediatric use.
More than 50% of the medicines used to treat children have not been tested and authorised for use in children. This means a doctor writing a prescription for a child for an untested, unauthorised product, cannot be sure the medicine will be truly effective, what dose is (...)

Health consequences of discrimination on the ground of sexual orientation

A comprehensive survey on discrimination against lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) young people shows the prevalence of mental ill health and low self-esteem among young LGBT people.
The survey has been carried out by ILGA-Europe (ILGA-Europe is the European Region of the International Lesbian and Gay Association) and the International Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, Transgender and Queer Youth and Student Organization (IGLYO)
The European-wide study looked at discrimination in (...)

Seminar on socially disadvantaged children in the European Parliament

The experiences of socially disadvantaged children in the decision-making processes are explored in an event organised by Eurochild in the European Parliament on 7 June 2006.
In advance of the publication of the Communication on the Rights of the Child, to be released by the European Commission on the initiative of Commissioner Franco Frattini in July 2006, socially disadvantaged children will describe their experiences in participating in decision-making processes that directly concern (...)

Selling alcohol to young people: the age limits at stake

A research study carried out by the Dutch Foundation for Alcohol Prevention (STAP) concluded that age limits for the sales of alcoholic drinks are not respected in the Netherlands.
Young mystery shoppers visited 300 supermarkets and liquor shops in the Netherlands over and 86% of the teenagers managed to buy alcohol.
Under the ’Alcohol and Catering Law’, it is forbidden to sell alcoholic products to children below the age of 16; the age-limit for selling distilled spirits is 18 years. (...)

School health promotion: does it work?

A new report from the World Health Organisation Health Evidence Network shows that health promotion in schools can improve children’s health and well-being.
The Health Evidence Network’s synthesis aimed to provide answers to the following questions: “What is the evidence on school health promotion in improving health or preventing disease and, specifically, what is the effectiveness of the health promoting schools approach?”
It identified studies that covered mental health, (...)

*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 (...)

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 (...)

**UPDATED** UK Presidency holds a Summit on health inequalities

Article updated with the final report. On 17-18 October 2005 the UK Presidency gathered together 500 participants from across Europe to discuss health inequalities and explore ideas on how they can be tackled.
The conference heard the latest data acrossa Europe about the widening health gap between the more prosperous socio-economic groups and deprived communities. The summit featured keynote speeches from ministers, academics and the European Commission and World Health Organisation. (...)

New WHO report on child health in Europe

The WHO Euro Region has published its 2005 European Health Report addressing major health issues facing the European region and in particular its children.
Entitled Public health action for healthier children and populations, the 2005 report adresses major health issues facing the European region and in particular its children.
Recognising the challenges posed by the widening health inequalities between states in the European region, the WHO underlines the importance of good health as a key (...)

The Council of Europe takes a strong stance on gender rights

On the 4 October 2005, The Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe adopted two strong resolutions aimed to better protect women’s rights in Europe. Both reports express concerns about the serious and recurrent violations of human rights of women in regards to religion, forced marriages and child marriages in Europe.
Women’s rights violation in the name of religion
In its resolution on women and religion in Europe (1464/2005), the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (...)

**UPDATED**European Parliament backs directive to increase R&D on pediatric medicines

This article has been updated with the Council’s position and the second reading from the European Parliament.
The European Parliament voted on 7 September in favour of a European Commission Directive to guarantee that medicines administered to children are actually suitable for them. An overwhelming majority of MEPs supported this way the stimulation of research into development of paediatric medicines in Europe.
The Parliament’s decision will now go to the Council, where the governments (...)

WHO focuses on health of mothers and children

The WHO World Health Report 2005 "Make Every Mother and Child Count" says that this year almost 11 million children under five years of age will die from causes that are largely preventable. Among them are 4 million babies who will not survive the first month of life. At the same time, more than half a million women will die in pregnancy, childbirth or soon after.
The report says that reducing this toll in line with the Millennium Development Goals depends largely on every mother and every (...)

EU funding for information dissemination to combat violence

The European Commission’s DG Justice and Home Affairs, has an open call for proposals under the framework of Daphne II - the EU Programme to combat violence against women, young people and children.
The deadline for submission is 1 April 2005 for projects aiming at the dissemination and the use of results fomr existing and prior projects.
The Daphne II programme runs from 2004 until 2008 with a budget of EUR 50 million. Its objectives are to support organisations that develop measures (...)

Improving safety of children’s toys

The European Commission’ s [DG Enterprise->DG Entreprises is revising the Toy Safety Directive (88/378/EEC). Two consumer organisations, ANEC and BEUC, have been involved in providing stakeholder input.
Both NGOs have a joint position to strengthen two major points :
The use of the comitology process (1) in order to make the directive very flexible. It will allow a more detailed directive on issues such as chemicals content, noise, speed of toys.
Regarding the use of chemicals in toys, (...)

WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control enters into force

An International Treaty for Tobacco Control
On 27 February, The WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC) enters into force, becoming binding international law for its Contracting Parties.
The FCTC is the first global public health treaty created under the auspices of the World Health Organisation. The final text was adopted unanimously in May 2003 (see related EPHA’s article).
Key provisions of the Treaty
The Framework Convention covers all aspects of tobacco control (...)

EU Action Plan on Drugs (2005-2008)

On 17 February 2005, the European Commission adopted a new Drugs Action Plan for the period 2005-2008. Its aims to significantly reduce the high levels of drug use, drug trafficking and the damage caused to EU societies through drug related crime, health problems and social exclusion.
The Action Plan transposes the general objectives contained in the EU Drugs Strategy (2005-2012) into concrete actions.
These include general policy measures, specific programmes aimed at the prevention of (...)

OECD guidelines on work/family life balance

The third volume of the OECD series of reports, "Babies and Bosses", was published at the end of October 2004.
The series reviews policies in OECD countries to help parents reconcile work and family commitments and recommends a range of measures to improve results.
Declining fertility rates are a concern in most countries, particularly in Japan, where birth rates are dropping as more people put jobs before childbearing. In Switzerland, as many as 40% of women at age 40 with university (...)

UK public health strategy reflects huge response to public consultation

The UK government published a White Paper entitled ’Choosing Health’ on November 16 2004 which outlines a number of measures aimed at improving public health in the United Kingdom.
There were an unprecedented number of responses to the four month long consultation with some 150,000 people responding directly or taking part in local discussions or surveys.
The white paper identifies key priorities as obesity, smoking, alcohol and sexual health.
The key recommendations of the (...)

World Health Day 2005: "Make every mother and child count"

Children’s health on the agenda in the UK

The UK Ministers of Health and Education have launched the first ever national blueprint to ensure personalised child-centred health and social care services.
The new standards are designed to generate a step change in the quality of children’s health services. They are based on current best practice.
The National Service Framework (NSF) for Children, Young People and Maternity Services will ensure that all children and young people get services that are age-appropriate and accessible, and (...)

Mixed progress made globally on women’s health

In 1994, at the International Conference on Population and Development (ICPD) in Cairo, 179 governments pledged to improve women’s health and status. A decade later, 23 countries have made significant progress toward the health and reproductive rights goals but 17 countries have achieved little or nothing, or actually lost ground, according to a new report by NGOs.
ICPD at Ten: Where Are We Now?, is published by Population Action International (PAI), Family Care International (FCI) and the (...)

Eurocare Briefing: Five Facts about Alcohol and Health

This fact file will help you to understand the full extent of health problems arising from alcohol.
Many people are not fully aware of the extent of the health problems arising from alcohol.
Many people misunderstand the relationship between alcohol and reduced risk of heart disease.
Many people think that wine doesn’t cause health problems and that instead wine protects against heart disease.
1. Alcohol causes nearly 1 in 10 of all ill-health and premature death in Europe The World (...)

EU survey on health, food, alcohol and safety - December 2003

A Eurobarometer survey published in December 2003 examines incidence of chronic illness, long-term treatment and dental health in the existing 15 countries of the EU. The European Commission’s report also provides more depth on health maintenance through doctor’s visits and various screening tests. Women’s health, safety and children’s safety are also examined in detail.
The sample reveals the prevalence of chronic illness across the EU, rheumatism/arthritis (22 %), allergies (18%), high (...)

New book on child public health - December 2003

A new publication provides a public health approach to health issues for children and young people in the developed world
EPHA has received a copy of a book published last month, called Child Public Health, written by M. Blair, S. Stewart-Brown, T. Waterston, and R. Crowther.
This book is targeted at public health practitioners and clinicians. The contents include:
Child health in the UK
Child health - the global context
Child public health - lessons from the past
Key concepts and (...)

Warning about the health of UK teenagers, December 2003

Obesity, mental ill-health and infertility, thats the fate awaiting many young people in the UK, as the health care system fails to meet their needs.
A new report by the British Medical Association (BMA), calls for increased government investment to tackle the specific health issues of adolescents.
Dr Vivienne Nathanson, the BMA’s Head of Science and Ethics said:
"Young people in Britain are increasingly likely to be overweight, indulge in binge drinking, have a sexually transmitted (...)

UNICEF reports poverty and high infant mortality in Central Asia

UNICEF’s 2003 Social Monitor paints an alarming picture of health in the 8 countries of the Caucasus and Central Asia (Azerbaijan, Armenia, Georgia, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgysztan and Turkmenistan). A special section looks at the real infant mortality rates which are much higher than official figures. Actual infant death rates in these countries are 5 times greater than in the rest of Central and Eastern Europe and the CIS and 12 times greater than in Western industrial (...)

UN’s report says that governments are failing to invest in education and health

Young people, especially in the developing world, are being short-changed because continuing under-investment in their health and education is stripping them of prospects for their future, says a report from the United Nations.
"The State of World Population 2003" report by UNFPA (United Nations Population Fund) focuses on the need for greater investments to protect the human rights and well-being of young people.
This includes greater investments in education, and in health, including (...)

Childrens’ book on allergies provokes controversy

A children’s book which appears to promote anti-allergy medicines is to be investigated by a UK government watchdog, the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency.
GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) paid for the book, "Mr Sneeze and his Allergies", which was produced in collaboration with the charity Allergy UK.
The story of Mr Sneeze allergies’ is followed by four pages of information on allergies from Allergy UK and two pages promoting the use of GSK products Piriteze and Piriton.
More (...)

Baby milk company condemned for illegal advertising direct to consumers

SMA Nutrition, part of Wyeth, one of the world’s biggest manufacturers of infant formula milk, was last week fined a total of £26 000 ($41 900; €37 200) and ordered to pay costs of more than £34 000 after being convicted of six separate breaches of illegal advertising direct to consumers.
More info on this issue:
BMA article

Eurocare’s Response to Consultation on marketing of alcohol

Alcoholic Beverages and the Revision of the Television Without Frontiers Directive

Commission to Clamp Down on Unfair Commercial Practices

The European Commission is poised to table a new Framework Directive to plug loopholes in existing legislation and clamp down on unfair commercial practices.
In the proposal it is hoping to approve at its June 18 meeting, the Commission says it wants to establish an updated, flexible and harmonised consumer protection framework, on the one hand, and and promote good business practice across an enlarged EU, on the other.
The EU executive reckons that the promotion and guarantee of "fair (...)

Children encouraged to eat chocolate to ’earn’ sports equipment

The chocolate manufacturer Cadbury is launching a campaign to persuade children to buy 160m chocolate bars, containing nearly 2m kg of fat, in exchange for "free" sports equipment for their schools.
Cadbury says that the initiative, which has the backing of the Uk government, will help to tackle obesity. Consumer watchdogs and health organisations are furious at the move.
Full article from The (...)

European Breastfeeding Promotion Project

The first meeting of a project on promoting breastfeeding in Europe, funded by DG SANCO was held last 21-23 February in Trieste, Italy. The NGO participant was IBFAN..
The project will produce a "Blueprint for action", i.e. a document that countries can use to plan and implement activities.
The USA have already produced an equivalent document on breastfeeding.

Young people brainstorm on alcohol

During a conference on "Education and Health" which took place in the Netherlands in September 2002, the results of the Young Minds project were presented. Students from secondary schools in twelve European countries highlighted young people’s opinions on the links between youth, culture and health. Here is how students in Spain propose to deal with the attitudes of young people towards alcohol and drugs.
Student report: It was hard to start off. At first we didn’t have a very clear idea (...)

Young people provide visions on inequalities

European adolescents are being interviewed about inequality and health in preparation for a conference in Copenhagen in December 2002.
Young people in several European countries are being asked their thoughts about social inequalities in health. The opinions expressed will be represented in a video to be shown at the Danish presidency conference on "Social inequalities in health among children and young people" taking place in Copenhagen, 9-10 December 2002.
Preliminary results of the (...)

Do children have a right to health?

One of the principal stated objectives of the European Union is to establish European citizenship, including fundamental rights. Yet the existing competence of EU does not take children’s rights into account. European NGOs are campaigning to achieve a legal base for children in the Treaty. The current legal status of the child in the EU Treaty is unclear, according to the European Children’s Network (Euronet), a network of NGOs campaigning for the rights of children within the European (...)

MSF Fact Sheet on Children and HIV/AIDS

The Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) Access to Essential Medicines campaign have created a 4-page Fact Sheet on Children and HIV/AIDS.
The publication urges players in HIV/AIDS treatment field to better facilitate access for children to antiretroviral therapy.
MSF makes a number of recommendations, specifically:
WHO and UNICEF should develop a clear strategy to ensure that greater numbers of children receive antiretrovirals;
Pharmaceutical companies should facilitate access for children to (...)

Malaria vaccine developments

An new vaccine in development has shown positive results in paediatric trials against the malaria that is found in the developing world (RTS,S/ASO2A).
The study, published in the "The Lancet", shows the results of a vaccine, developed by GlaxoSmithkline (GSK) Biologics and tested amongst children between one and four years old for a period of six months in Mozambique.
This vaccine was first tested in adults in Belgium, Kenya, The Gambia, and the US. It has since been tested in children in (...)

WHO reveals the economic cost of interpersonal violence

A WHO report reveals that violence devastates lives and also imposes major economic costs on societies around the world, some of which spend more than 4% of their Gross Domestic Product (GDP) on dealing with violence-related injuries.
The economic dimensions of interpersonal violence, compiles currently available information on the costs of violence against children, women and the elderly and among young people, including information on the cost-effectiveness of preventing violence.
1.6 (...)