March Newsletter 2010

Strategic Interest Group for Health Determinants

The EPHA Secretariat is holding a Strategic Interest Group for Health Determinants The EPHA Secretariat will organise the Strategic Interest Group for Health Determinants on 14 April, at 14h00, in the EPHA offices. The purpose of this meeting is to bring together members working on issues of importance for the determinants of health. There will be a strategic discussion of the EPHA priorities and their implementation in this part of our work for 2010 and beyond. The EPHA Secretary General (...)

EPHA Briefing Paper and Policy Recommendations on Roma Health

In light of the upcoming European Summit on Roma Inclusion, EPHA prepared a briefing paper and policy recommendations aimed at stimulating action to improve Roma health. EPHA will attend the Summit in the framework on its work on health inequalities in Europe. April 2009 Health issues facing Europe’s Roma community It is well-recognised that differences in public health outcomes at a population level are closely linked to degrees of social disadvantage among different communities. (...)

Secretariat News March 2010

Activity and communication Strategic Planning for EPHA EPHA launched a consultation with its members on the next planning period for the organisation. Following extensive discussions amongst the Executive Committee, Secretariat and Strategic Interest Group meetings, two draft documents are available and members are encouraged to contribute to the discussions. Please access information on the documents and the process here Policy Coordination Meeting - On 4 March 2010, EPHA held its second (...)

"Time to Act" Commission Work Programme 2010

On 31 March 2010 The Commission Released its 2010 Work Programme, based on Barroso’s political guidelines. This is the first Work Programme of the new Commission, and outlines the Commission`s ambition and commitments, for 2010 and beyond. The Work Programme indentifies the issues the Commission will tackle and sets the policy direction to respond to upcoming challenges, laying the foundation for its work in the rest of the mandate. General lines The main focus of this first Work (...)

Global Health Policy Forum discusses crisis of health workforce, social protection and mental health in developing countries.

Global health is a truly complex issue. In fact, there is no universal definition of it because as soon as experts begin to discuss what it should embrace, new essential concepts start emerging. The truth is - global health is like global ecosystem and what happens in the EU happens in the rest of the world. Therefore, the 6th Global Health Policy Forum welcomed again new issue to be brought to our attention - health workforce, social protection and mental health in developing countries. (...)

Roundtable on the engagement of Polish civil society in public health advocacy.

"Public health is the science and art of preventing disease, prolonging life and promoting health through the organised efforts and informed choices of society, organisations, public and private, comunities and individuals" (Winslow, 1920). It is about health at the population level and therefore the population it concerns must be engaged in this process. Civil society involvement has been not only encouraged at all levels, it has been also made a legal requirement of social dialogue under (...)

The Generic Drugs Forum calls for attention to the lack of training and information around generic medicines.

The Generic Drugs Forum held its first meeting on March 2nd in Madrid. Participants were able to discuss current situation of generic drugs in Spain. Topics discussed included patient confidence, health professional perscriptions of generic drugs and modify the Reference Pricing System. The Generic Drugs Forum also made recommendations on how to improve the use of generic drugs. On March 2nd in Madrid, the first meeting of the newly created Generic Drugs Forum took place. Participants (...)

Members consultation - EPHA operational framework 2011 - 2015 and 2011 Business Plan

As discussed in the General Assembly in November 2008 and October 2009, the EPHA Executive Committee supported by the Secretariat has launched the process to develop a five year framework for activities for EPHA up until 2015. In 2009, the Secretariat held consultations with members during the Strategic Interest Groups in September 2009 and a discussion on EPHA’s overall objectives during the Annual Policy Coordination Meeting (APCM) in October 2009. The outcomes of these discussions (...)

A Europe without needlestick injuries

EPHA member the European Federation of Nurses has issued a Press release on an agreement reached on proposal for prevention from sharp injuries in the hospital and healthcare sector Directive. A Europe without needlestick injuries The Employment, Social Policy, Healthcare and Consumer Council agreed on the proposal for an EU Directive implementing the Framework Agreement on prevention from sharp injuries in the hospital and healthcare sector concluded by HOSPEEM and EPSU (COM (2009) (...)

"More than ever, children’s health is at risk from a changing environment": Fifth Ministerial Conference on Environment and Health

The Fifth Ministerial Conference on Environment and Health organised by the WHO Regional Office for Europe was hosted by the Italian Health and Environment Ministers, in Parma on 10-12 March 2010. The event focused on the protection of children’s health in a changing environment. The Fifth Ministerial Conference on Environment and Health organised by the WHO Regional Office for Europe was hosted by the Italian Health and Environment Ministers on 10-12 March 2010 in Parma. The (...)