Health Inequalities

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 (...)

EPHA attended part of Platform for International Cooperation on Undocumented Migrants (PICUM) second working session on access to health care for undocumented migrants.
The EU Project “Access to Health Care for Undocumented Migrants” has been co-funded by the European Commission (DG Employment and Social Affairs) in the framework of the European Social Inclusion Strategy.
The overall aim of this project, lead by PICUM, is to improve access to health care for excluded migrant (...)

The portal features recent examples of interventions and policies designed to reduce health inequalities in the countries of the European Union.
The portal is a deliverable of the project "closing the Gap: Strategies for Action to Tackle Health Inequalities (2004-2007)" . This project is being co-funded by the European Commission and it brings together national public health and health promotion organisations from 22 European countries.
Information that can be found on the portal:
A (...)

the European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction (EMCDDA) and the World Health Organisation - Europe Region have joined forces to build a database assessing the health of prisoners in Europe.
Among other issues, the database particularly intends to draw the attention on the prevalence of drug abuse within the target group.
Although the full database will only be available online as of July 2006, the first step of the project focuses on drug prevalence and entails a database on (...)

Open Society Institute Network Public Health Program has published a report entitled “Mediating Romani Health: Policy and Program Opportunities”. The report examines an initiative of several Eastern European governments, known as Roma Health Mediator (RHM) programs.
Based on a study of the Roma health mediator model in Bulgaria, Finland, and Romania, it aims to identify both the potential and shortcomings of health mediator programs (RHM) in addressing the determinants of (...)

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. (...)

The result: demands for a balance between personal responsibility and the support of the health system and the state.
The Society for Citizen’s reports - a German NGO - has issued the results of the opinions of 400 German citizens’ on the issue of the reform of their health system.
The report was commissioned by the Bavarian State Ministry for Environment, Health and Consumer protection, and it was carried out with the purpose of feeding into the health reform that the State is (...)

A new report from the World Health Organisation (WHO) points out that preventing chronic disease could save 36 million people by 2015. After having assessed the current trends, the WHO’s report sets out global goals and counters misperceptions.
Entitled “Preventing chronic Diseases: a vital investment”, the report asserts that 60% of all deaths are due to chronic diseases at global level. In 2005, 35 million people will die from chronic diseases (ie cardiovascular disease, (...)

The European Parliament Working Group on Population, Sustainable Development and Reproductive Health (EPWG) and the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) recently organised an event in the European Parliament to launch the State of World Population 2005, which stresses that gender equality and reproductive health are indispensable to the realization of the eight Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).
Key speakers at the event were Ms Imelda Helkin, Deputy Executive and Assisant Secretary (...)

A database of more than 700 European Local Initiatives to Combat Social Exclusion LOCIN - has recently been relaunched.
The LOCIN project, lead by the European Anti-poverty Network (EAPN) and funded by the European Commission, has brought together academic institutions and NGOs to promote and disseminate good practice and innovation in the field of social exclusion.
The database includes information about many projects on health: physical and mental health, child care, youth work or care of (...)