Europe

DETERMINE: a new consortium on socio-economical determinants of health

EuroHealthNet, in close collaboration with the Czech National Institute of Public Health (NIPH), in July 2007 launched a new EU consortium for action on socio-economic determinants of health entitled DETERMINE.
DETERMINE will concentrate on the underlying socio-economic determinants for health. It will build on and take forward existing work in the area of the social determinants of health and on health inequalities in an EU context.
To undertake this work it will establish a consortium of (...)

New Slovenian pulbic health platform: the Slovene Coalition for health

Following up EPHA capacity-building seminar in January 2005, the Slovenian Coalition for health was set up on December 2005 by Slovenian orgnaisations and officially registered on 25 August, 2006.
Background
On January 2005, EPHA in co-operation with the Centre for non-governmental organisation of Slovenia (CNVOS) organised a capacity building workshop “Towards a national public health platform in Slovenia”. Expert facilitators delivered training modules on the EU and Health and (...)

2006 PGEU annual Symposium on the pharmacists role in the public health agenda

The 2006 Pharmaceutical Group of the European Union (PGEU) Symposium addresses "A competitive social Europe: pharmacist’s role in implementing a positive public health agenda" in Cascais - Portugal on the 26 June 2006.
The objective of the Symposium is to outline the pharmacist’s role in a competitive social Europe.
They discuss the following issues:
the main characteristics of and a comparison between the USA and European Health care models;
the future for health care in the EU - (...)

The European Respiratory Society

The recruitment is closed.
The European Respiratory Society is seeking to appoint a Brussels-based EU Scientific Officer.
Working closely with ERS’ scientific department in Switzerland, your tasks will include identifying EU research funding opportunities, drafting funding applications and developing respiratory research policy materials.
Qualifications required
University degree in a scientific discipline;
Work experience within the EU institutions and/or in health/research/scientific (...)

Seminar: alcohol is no ordinary commodity

During the first part of 2005 the Parliament will handle the European Commission’s proposal regarding an Alcohol strategy.
IOGT-NTO, an EPHA member, co-organised a seminar in this issue on 26 January 2005, hosted by MEP Mrs Cecilia Malmström.
Mr Kari Paaso, the representative of DG Sanco who works on the strategy, presented the EC’s position. There were also various guests who gave their perspective on the issue.
Speakers included Dr Michel Craplet (medical advisor of ANPAA, France) who (...)

Eurocare’s response to the regulation on nutrition and health claims made on foods

1st alcohol policy conference in the context of a larger Europe

Conference: "bridging the gap", 16-19 June 2004 Warsaw
Presented by Eurocare, in collaboration with the European Commission, the World Health Organisation, the European Youth Forum, the European Cultural Foundation & the Polish State Agency for Prevention of Alcohol Related Problems, and in partnership with NGOs and government departments from 27 European countries.
Aim of Conference?
To bridge the gap between scientifically based evidence, the possible and the practical in the process of (...)

Is health in the European Convention?

The Summer 2003 issue of the ’Eurohealth’ newsletter includes an editorial by Professor Martin Mckee, Paul Belcher and EPHA General Secretary Tamsin Rose.
’Eurohealth’ is a joint publication of the European Observatory on Health Care Systems and LSE Health & Social Care.
The authors analyse the Convention results on public health and analyse the possible changes in EU competence in health during the (...)

Networking with Czech NGOs

A member of EPHA Secretariat participated in the study visit to the Czech Republic organised by the Working Group on Enlargement of the Social Platform, on 18-20 September.
The visit included meetings with representatives of the Czech Institutions (government and parliament), the European Commission Delegation and Czech NGOs.
Promotion of capacity-building amongst Czech NGOs and networking were the main objectives of the visit.
EPHA came back with useful contacts which have provided a (...)

MHE conferences and meetings

Mental Health Europe - Santé Mentale Europe (MHE) has a few conferences and events planned for the next months:
Interactive forum entitled "From being ’cared for’ to ’caring for’ professionals", which will be organised at the City Town Hall in Paris on 21-22 October 2003 by a group of French associations in co-operation with Mental Health Europe.
MHE’s General Assembly will take place one day before the Forum, on Monday, 20 October in Paris.
Annual conference 2004 which will be held in (...)

Sixth EUROPA DONNA Pan-European Conference: ’Uniting for Standards - Equality for All’

EUROPA DONNA is organising its sixth pan-European Conference in Limassol, Cyprus, on 8 and 9 November 2003.
The conference will aim at developing a unified European voice speaking out for the needs of women in every country to gain access to the best breast screening and breast care possible.
The Conference Brochure
The Conference Registration Form
The Hotel Reservation Form
EUROPA DONNA on the (...)

Conference on health information and communication

EPHA participated in an conference organised by Italian Presidency and the European Commission on 3-4 September 2003 on "Healthy lifestyles: education; information and communication" in Milan.
Several points were highlighted in the conclusions of this meeting:
impact of lifestyles on health; issues such as tobacco, alcohol abuse, overweight and obesity, cardiovascular diseases and other diet-related diseases and decrease of breast-feeding.
conclusions on factors influencing lifestyle; (...)

Facts on alcohol

1 in 4 European men and 1 in 10 European women consume alcohol at levels hazardous and harmful to health
1 in 4 drinking occasions includes consumption of more than 6 units of alcohol (60g)
5% of European adults are physically dependent on alcohol
9.2% of all disability and premature death in Europe is due to alcohol (14% for men)
Alcohol is no ordinary commodity.
Submitted by Eurocare.
Source: World Health Organization, Global burden of disease (...)

Mental health for every age group

Mental Health Europe launched the results of one of its projects at a press conference on 8 July in the European Parliament.
The EU-funded project, "Mental Health Promotion and Prevention Strategies for Coping with Anxiety, Depression and stress-Related Disorders in Europe" was been carried out by a consortium of three sectors, each being responsible of one section of the life-cycle (Mental Health Europe: children, adolescents and young people, FIOSH: Working Adults, STAKES: Older People). (...)

UICC joins WHO in global advocacy

Two million lives could be saved by 2020 and 6.5 million lives by 2040 according to new WHO/UICC cancer booklet.
The World Health Organization (WHO) and the International Union Against Cancer (UICC) call for action through concerted efforts by all sectors to prevent and treat cancer throughout the world.
By taking immediate action, the organizations estimate that at least two million lives could be saved by 2020 and 6.5 million lives by 2040.
The booklet, Global Action Against Cancer, (...)

IPPF lobby unites 37 groups

Thirty-seven European groups signed up to the International Planned Parenthood - European Network’s petition to members of the Convention on the Future of Europe about the functioning of a participatory democracy under Title VI (namely Articles 33 to 37).
IPPF-EN says that these groups are concerned about Draft Article 37, which incorporates Declaration No 11 annexed to the Treaty of Amsterdam on the recognition of the status of churches and non-confessional organisations and (...)

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 (...)

WECF urges resistance against industry attacks

Women in Europe for a Common Future (WECF) have called on civil society groups to urgently respond to the EU consultation on a draft new chemicals policy. (The deadline for comments was July 10).
In a press release following their conference 28-29 June, they say that the European chemicals industry and the United States government have together mounted one of the biggest-ever lobbying campaigns against tighter chemicals controls.
"This [industry and American administration lobbying] is (...)

EPHA and HEAL conference on Climate Change and Public Health

EPHA and HEAL conference held on climate change and the challenges for Publci Health: priorities for EU Action.

**UPDATED**Aarhus Convention on access to information, public participation in Environmental matters

This article has been updated with information regarding a new report entitled "Environmental Democracy" published in 2006.
The Aarhus Convention is an international agreement which lays down a set of basic rules to promote citizens’ involvement in environmental matters and improve enforcement of environmental law.
In particular, it grants the public access to environmental information, provides for participation in environmental decision-making, and allows the public to seek judicial (...)

European Investment Bank committed to environmental objectives

During a conference organised by the Centre for European Policies Studies (CEPS) on 19 September, EIB Vice-President Peter Sedgwick highlithted the bank’s increased commitment to environmental objectives.
The European Investment Bank (EIB), the European Union’s financing institution, is in charge of granting loans to support Community policies. The EIB is the biggest public lender in the world with a current portfolio of investments in about 140 countries and an annual lending in the range (...)

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 (...)

German government support EU chemicals review

EurActive. The German "Rat von Sachverständigen für Umweltfragen" (Council of Environmental Experts - an independent body advising the German government) published on 24 July a 36-page evaluation of industry impact assessments of the Commission’s proposed REACH system for the registration, calling them "not plausible" and "of little use" for the debate.
The Commission is expected to present its final legislative proposals in October 2003.
Full (...)

Carcinogenic benzene levels highest at rush hour

To breathe air containing less carcinogenic benzene, stop smoking and leave the car at home.
That advice has emerged from the first in a series of Europe wide air quality studies.
There were 2 European cities acting as pilot-cities for the PEOPLE project: Brussels and Lisbon.
The first phase of the Population Exposure to Air Pollutants In Europe (PEOPLE) project took place in Brussels last October, and the results were published on 30th June. The results from the PEOPLE project in Lisborn (...)

Green Week 2003

The 2003 edition of Green Week that will take place 2-5 June.
The main aim of Green Week is to encourage people to "think aloud" about changing people’s environmental behaviour and making the world a more environmentally friendly and healthy place to live in.
Green Week 2003 intends bringing people together to debate, as a follow-up to the World Summit on Sustainable Development in Johannesburg on key environmental issues of sustainable consumption and production, renewable energy & (...)

EIB Environment Report Published

The European Investment Bank (EIB) has published its first ever Environment Report.
The Report provides an account of recent environmental developments at the EIB, including new policy initiatives, changes in its environmental organisation and environmental lending in 2001-2002, defined by its status as a European institution.

**Updated** 2007 IGC talks: EU leaders reach agreement on a ’Reform Treaty’

On 19 October 2007, the 27 Member States finally reached agreement on the text of the Reform Treaty which will be formally adopted on 13 December in Lisbon, Portugal.
In June, EU leaders agreed on the mandate for the 2007 Inter-governmental conference (IGC), to draft the Reform Treaty after the ’Constitutional Treaty’ of 2004 was rejected by popular referenda in France and the Netherlands. The final text differs from the original mandate in several areas.
The Reform Treaty
After much (...)

The European Food Safety Agency fifth Aniversary

The European Food Safety Agency (EFSA) commemorates its fifth aniversary in 2007.
The EFSA began operating in 2002. Provisionally based in Brussels its permanet home is Parma (Italy). During the last five years it has been responsible for providing scientific advice on all matters concerning food safety in the European Union. Its work covers the whole food production process, from primary production to the supply of food to consumers.
In order to increase their visibility and the (...)

**Updated** European Commission Plan D: regaining the trust of European citizens

**The article has been updated with recent debates, plus the launch of the internet forum.** The European Commissioner Margot Wallström launched its Plan D for Democracy, Dialogue and Debate, on the 13 October 2005. It aims to lay the ground for a strong debate about European Union’s future.
Background to Plan D Against the backdrop of the French and Dutch No to the constitutional treaty and the impossible agreement on the budget in June 2005, Plan D aims to open up a debate built on a (...)

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

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

ECDC Director committed to improve public health in Europe

Mrs Zsuzsanna Jakab begun working as the first Director of the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC), in March 2005.
Objectives of the ECDC
Speaking at the European Parliament’s Environment, Public Health and Food Safety (ENVI) Committee hearing on Monday 10 January 2005, she asserted very clearly 4 broad functions for the future ECDC :
Organising and coordinating the collaboration between EU institutions, Member States and other partners such as the World Health (...)

ERCEG recommends the creation of a European Research Council

An interim report of the European Research Council Expert Group concludes that there are compelling reasons for the establishment of a European Research Council.
The European Research Council Expert Group (ERCEG) was created in December 2002 by the Danish government to explore options for establishing a European Research Council (ERC).
The Group now released an interim report, arguing that there were compelling reasons for setting up an ERC, whose main purpose should be to manage a (...)

August 2003, The ’Green Eight’ criticises the Constitutional Text

A group of eight leading environmental groups have criticised the draft EU constitution ahead of the intergovernmental debate on the blueprint due to start in October.
They suggest big amendments to the Union’s main policies such as agriculture.
The other main fault, the group finds, is the fact that the Euratom treaty dating from 1957 at a time when nuclear energy was "was perceived as a safe energy source" is included in the draft constitution.
’Green Eight’ consists of Birdlife (...)

Enlargement Countries Join EMEA Board

From 1 April 2003 Experts from the 10 first wave accession countries will participate as observers in the Scientific Committees and working parties of the European Agency for the Evaluation of Medicinal Products (EMEA). This builds on a preparatory training and exchange programme run between EMEA and the CEE countries financed through the EU Phare programme.
The EMEA press (...)

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. (...)

EPHA Participates in a Workshop on the Draft Bulgarian Public Health Law

The Technical Assistance Information Exchange Office (TAIEX) of DG Enlargement in co-operation with the Bulgarian Ministry of Health, DG Sanco and WHO Europe organised on 24-26 February 2003 to support and inform the Bulgarian Government in refining its ambitiously comprehensive new law on Public Health.
Bulgaria is an accession country currently aiming to achieve membership in 2007.
Stephen Gordon, General Secretary of the European Council for Classical Homeopathy represented EPHA at the (...)

NGO Priorities in Eastern Europe

EPHA conducted a survey on Enlargement and Health to identify the priorities and needs of health NGOs in Central and Eastern European countries. Please find a PDF version of the survey below.

Call for Proposals Published for FP6

Parliament and Council are now finalising discussions on the Rules for Participation and Specific Programmes. The European Council in Seville (21-22 June 2002) called for the "earliest possible adoption of the decisions implementing the Sixth Framework Programme for Research (participation rules and specific programmes)".
The first call for tender was issued 17 December 2002, these legal texts define the necessary specifications to prepare and submit a proposal. Calls have been published (...)

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 (...)

NGOs sing ’Krakow Declaration’ for a better CAP

180 NGOs have signed the ’Krakov declaration’.
Friends of the Earth Europe organised a campaign to collect signatures for the ’Krakow Declaration’ to be presented to the NGO Conference ’EU Accession and Agriculture: making CAP work for People and the Environment’, organised by Polish Ecological Club, Friends of the Earth Europe, the Heinrich Boell Foundation and the Dutch Ministry of Environment, in Krakow on November 7 & 8.
The Krakov Declaration calls for a more sustainable, (...)

GMO cross contamination may create "superweeds"

A report funded by the UK government and directed by Dr Mike Wilkinson of Reading University (UK) states that cross-pollination between GM plants and their wild relatives is inevitable and could create hybrid superweeds resistant to the most powerful weedkillers.
The report, titled "Hybridization Between Brassica napus and B. rapa on a National Scale in the United Kingdom", has been published in the online magazine "Science" on 9 October 2003 (10.1126/science.1088200).
The results of the (...)

Obesity in Europe

The International Obesity Task Force (IOTF) has issued a position paper called "Obesity in Europe - 2: Waiting for a green light for health? Europe at the crossroads for diet and disease".
The position paper offers an updated perspective on the issues identified in the first report, Obesity in Europe, published at the European Union "Obesity Summit", convened by the Danish presidency and held in Copenhagen on 11-12 September 2002.
IOTF website
IOTF position paper on "Obesity in Europe - (...)

Diet and Physical Health Online Discussion

The Stakeholder Forum, in collaboration with the World Health Organisation, organised last April an online discussion on the WHO’s proposed Global Strategy on Diet, Physical Activity and Health.
The discussion started on 31 March and lasted for four weeks on the dedicated website: WHO wanted to receive civil society input into the Strategy, and to spread awareness of this important initiative, which launches in 2004.
The topics were:
Week 1 (31 March - 4 April): Focus areas for the (...)

Lamy Discusses CAP Reform with NGOs

EPHA participated last 8-9 May in a meeting organised by Solidar, Oxfam International and CIDSE.
In this meeting NGOs told European Trade Commissioner Pascal Lamy that the EU, and others, have so far failed to deliver on their promises to make development the primary focus of the current WTO, Doha Development round negotiations.
Lamy recognized that developing countries are sometimes put under unacceptable pressure in WTO negotiations.
He stated that the EU categorically rejected these (...)

Debate Continues on the Location for the European Food Safety Agency

Following several months of discussions, on 18 March Italy and Finland drafted a compromise proposal on the location of the European Food Safety Agency, under which two separate agencies - one in Finland and one in Italy - would be established. The Helsinki agency would deal with food safety and control procedures and the Parma (Italy) agency would look at protection of designations and certificates of origin of agricultural products. However, on 21 March Mr Berlusconi said that, due to the (...)

EU Proposals on Fortified Foods

«Draft EU Food Fortification Directive» This is designed to regulate the way that substances can be added to food and how this is marketed to consumers. For example, added vitamins, minerals or other substances that are beneficial to health. The draft directive (link) was discussed in a consultation in brussels on 13 February 2003 (link to programme) which was attended by EPHA and several member organisations. A brief report of the meeting is available (link). The next steps will be a new (...)

International day against drug abuse and illicit trafficking: EU calls for a "common language" to describe drug-related crime

To enable the EU to outline an effective prevention strategy against drug-related crime, EMEA took up the mission to define a "common language" to describe this complex phenomenon. EMEA’s policy briefing on the relationship between drugs and crime was released on the International Day against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking, on 26 June 2007.
The EU drugs action plan (2005-2008) sets out the objective to prevent drug-related crime. But before countries can measure the extent of such crime (...)

*UPDATED* European Seminar on Homelessness - 1 June 2007

EPHA member FEANTSA - the European Federation of National Organisations working with the Homeless held a one-day seminar on Friday 1 June 2007. The Seminar, entitled "Key elements for a successful local homeless strategy: How can Europe support local authorities to improve the fight against homelessness" took place in Brussels at the Committee of the Regions.
The President of the EU Committee of the Regions, Michel Delbarre, spoke at the event on the issue of homelessness. Tools to develop (...)

Why do Europeans participate in civil society? A Eurofound report

Based on the 2003 European Quality of Life Survey, the European Foundation for the Improvement of Living and Working Conditions (Eurofound) has published a more in depth report regarding Europeans’ participation in civil society.
The report entitled "First European Quality of Life Survey: Participation in civil society", provides an analysis of why some people are engaged in civil society and why others are not.
According to the report a total of 95% of Europeans participate in either (...)

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

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

Two new reports on health care in the EU

"Health as a growth factor: a comparative analysis"
A study by the Institute for Health Systems Research at the University of Linz (Austria) commissioned by the Austrian Federal Ministry of Health and Women in cooperation with the Standing Committee of the Hospitals of the EU (HOPE) has been published on September 2003.
The study titled "Health as a grouwth factor: a comparative analysis", is a pilot study of Austrian scientist which compares France and Austria, considering health care from (...)

Health care data protection in Hungary

Márta Faur contributes to the book "Data Protection in Hungary", with an article on "Data Protection in Health Care", (page 9).
"The aim of this paper is to present the importance of, and the need for, securing protection for data processed in the sphere of health care, and to indicate the areas in which data processing may threaten to be injurious to individual’s rights."
The book is edited by Dániel Máté Szabó and published by the Hungarian Civil Liberties Union, Budapest 2003.
ISBN: 963 (...)

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 (...)

ECDC and EMCDDA cooperate to prevent drug-related infectious diseases

The European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) and the European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction (EMCDDA) signed a cooperation agreement on joint projects to prevent and control drug-related infectious diseases on 29 June 2007 in Lisbon, Portugal.
The ECDC and EMCDDA cooperation agreement starts with the purpose of being a formal framework for both agencies in order to tackle infections related with communicable diseases and to contribute to the EU effort in (...)

Europeans want health to be priority for aid money

A Eurobarometer survey on development aid has found European citizens want their aid money spent on fighting extreme poverty and hunger, and health care.
At the half way point for achieving the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), the Eurobarometer survey shows broad public support for certain priorities in development co-operation.
When asked to give their top three priorities most Europeans (66%) consider reducing extreme poverty and hunger in developing countries as a priority. (...)

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, (...)

What is European Citizenship and who is responsible?

The European Citizen Action Service (ECAS) is concerned that "European citizenship" is an issue that belongs to everyone and yet no one is claiming responsibility for it. ECAS has issued a petition to encourage the European Parliament to create a forum in which this increasingly important issues can be discussed.
Many questions need to be answered regarding what it means to be a European Citizen. The European institutions need to ensure that their policies and processes represent the views (...)

Support for petition: Ending extreme Poverty, a Road to Peace!

The 17th October 2007 is International Day Against Poverty. To mark the day and increase its impact human rights NGOs from four different continents have come together to launch a declaration that calls for all citizens, local and national authorities, and the United Nations to recognise poor and excluded people as key stakeholders in the fight against poverty and ensure that they are able to fully participate in decisions that affect them.
You can support the declaration Ending extreme (...)

Smoke free Partnership launches brand new website

Brussels, (30 April 2007): The Smoke Free Partnership officially launched its website on the 30 April 2007, a resource for individuals and organizations interested in tobacco control in Europe.
www.smokefreepartnership.eu
Despite evidence that tobacco control measures by the European Community and within the Member States have had a positive on smoking rates and saved thousands of lives, smoking still remains the largest single cause of preventable death and disease in Europe.
Partners for (...)

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

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

*UPDATED* European Citizens’ Initiative launched

An alliance of European civil societies have launched a campaign entitled the European Citizens’ Initiative. It is calling for the introduction of the citizens’ right of initiative in the EU.
The European Citizens’ initiative (ECI) would require the European Commission to respond to a proposed change in European law signed by at least one million EU citizens. This would enable European citizens and civil society organizations to directly influence the political agenda of the EU for (...)

NGOs under serious threat in Russia: CSCG calls on the EU for support

The Russian Parliament’s lower house has overwhelmingly approved a bill that would would severely undermine the sovereignty of Russian and foreign NGOs by imposing heightened surveillance and re-registration procedures. European NGOs call for an EU action.
In its first (out of three) reading, the Duma has endorsed a bill that would ultimately impose contrainsts on citizen activism, the closure of many Russian NGOs and even the departure of foreign NGOs. Besides, it has come to light that (...)

Making civil dialogue work better

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

Enlargement countries co-ordinate fight against drug trafficking

Some of the enlargement countries have signed the "Baku declaration", uniting their efforts against drug trafficking.
Bulgaria, Hungary, Latvia, Romania, and Turkey were among the countries that took part in the recent international conference in Baku last 23 January 2004. The conference focused on illicit drug trafficking along the Silk Route and it was organised by the World Customs Organisation (WCO).
Customs administrations and international and regional organizations reviewed actions (...)

European week for safety and health at work

The European Week 2003 "Dangerous substances - Handle with care" is an information campaign aimed at making Europe a safe and healthy place to work by promoting activities to reduce the risks of working with dangerous substances.
With the backing of all Member States and enlargement countries, the European Commission and Parliament, trade unions and employers’ federations, this annual initiative has become the largest workplace safety and health event in Europe.
It provides a unique (...)

OLAF signs agreement to fight cigarette smuggling

The European Anti Fraud Office (OLAF) and the World Customs Organisation (WCO) signed on 29 September a procedure for the exchange of data on illicit cigarette trafficking.
OLAF’s press release.
Commission’s press release.

12th World Conference on Tobacco or Health

The week-long conference of the World Health Organization was attended by about 2.000 representatives from 115 countries.
It started on the 3rd of August and was held in Helsinki, Finland.
It focused on tobacco control policies and links between smoking to youth, addiction, culture and religion.
Home page of the conference
Press room of the conference
Commissioner David Byrne’s speech at (...)

The OSHA Good Practice Website

The European Agency for Safety and Health at Work network of websites offers a step-by-step guide to accessing good practice information on the web.

Health professionals discuss opportunities to reduce health risks

Reducing health risks and promoting healthy lifestyles was a topic of much discussion during the meeting held on the 28/29 April 2003, of major European health professional groups hosted by the WHO Regional Office for Europe in Copenhagen, Denmark.
Experts from the European fora of national medical, pharmaceutical, and nursing and midwifery associations attended the meeting.
The World Health Professions Alliance also sent their representatives to participate in the debates.
The (...)

EU Agrees to Ratify Global Tobacco Treaty

The EU agreed last Thursday 15 May to ratify the world’s first anti-tobacco treaty despite German objections to the planned restrictions on advertising, leaving the United States in an isolated holdout.
The landmark tobacco control accord has been adopted on Wednesday 21 May by ministers at the World Health Organisation’s annual assembly, and it calls for restrictions on advertising and marketing, new labelling controls and a clampdown on smuggling and second-hand smoke.
Germany, due to its (...)

Mental Health Europe Forum, Paris, October 2003

Advocacy France and a number of French and European mental health organisations, in partnership with Mental Health Europe, are organising a Forum on Mental Health in the framework of the European Year of People with Disabilities 2003.
It will take place at the City Hall in Paris, France, on 21-22 October 2003. The Forum aims:
to develop reflection and discussion on discrimination faced by people with mental health problems;
to denounce the different forms of discrimination;
to value (...)

Sweden to Clash With EU on Alcohol Policies

The traditional Swedish alcohol policy is under pressure from EU harmonisation, as the Market Court in Stockholm has ruled that the country can no longer keep up its ban on advertisements for alcohol.
At the same time, Sweden finds the new EU rules on drugs too slack, as the country has until now maintained a policy of zero toleration.
EU Observer article.

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 (...)

EMEA/CHMO working group with patients’ organisations, 2004

The European Medicine Evaluation Agency (EMEA) is a decentralised body of the European Union with headquarters in London.
EMEA’s main responsibility is the protection and promotion of public and animal health, through the evaluation and supervision of medicines for human and veterinary use.
The EMEA is divided in different Committees. The most relevant for human health is the Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use (CHMP). Giving the importance of this committee, EMEA decided to set (...)

The Cancun Ministerial conference of the WTO: What went wrong?

The Cancun ministerial conference collapsed on September 14th as Minister Derbez made the decision to halt the negotiations because of the absence of a consensus on the pending decision on the Singapore issues.
Preliminary Analysis
The following factors contributed to the failure of the mid-term review of the Doha Development round.
1- Overloaded agenda
This failure occurs after two years of missed deadlines and postponement of decisions leading to a clearly overloaded agenda. The lack of (...)

Accession Countries issue declaration on EU pharma review

Health ministers of the 10 new Member States decided to issue a declaration on 5 September, on the margins of the informal meeting of EU health ministers in Milan, Italy, to draw attention to their fears over the new medicines legislation’s provisions on data exclusivity.
The Italian Presidency has stated that they want to make as much progress as possible on the pharma review package with a view to its final adoption before the impending EU enlargement in May 2004.
In the Declaration, (...)

RSPB and Birdlife International preparatory documents for Cancun

The by Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB) and BirdLife International have produced three papers (attached) for the forthcoming WTO Ministerial meeting in Cancun.
The first paper is an information paper on the relationship between the latest reform of the EU’s Common Agricultural Policy and the proposed reform of the WTO’ s Agreement on Agriculture.
The second is a policy position paper on Agriculture and Trade.
The third is a media background briefing (...)

Pharmaceutical Direct-to-Consumer Advertising

Pharmaceutical companies in the European Union are currently prohibited from advertising prescription drugs directly to the public, however Article 88 of DG Enterprise’s proposed draft of the EU Pharmaceuticals relaxes the ban for three diseases: diabetes, asthma and respiratory diseases, HIV/AIDS.
Opponents of the proposal argue that direct-to-consumer advertising (DTCA) leads to unsustainable health care spending and may have other negative effects for patients.
In contrast, its (...)