European Public Health Association
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President’s Column: Rome, Europe and the rest of the world |
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 Top President's Column: Rome, Europe... European health strategyLinking research and policyReferences |
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The attraction of Rome during the celebrations of the European Union (EU) jubilee was magnetic. Two trips there towards the end of March gave food for thought on the broader implications of the signing of the Treaty of Rome 50 years ago. As someone who is outside the EU (or is Switzerland ‘inside’ the EU?), this would seem to be the politically correct approach. With the growing influence of the EU in the EUropean area, the existence of a non-EU president of EUPHA is a reminder—sometimes necessary—that the ‘EU’ in European Public Health Association (EUPHA) is not the EU, but EUrope.
As significant as this single step (the signing of the Treaty of Rome) was in the construction of Europe, it is best seen as one more milestone in the ever growing system of supranational governance. With the emergence of nation-states following the peace of Westphalia in 1648, the world (read Europe) entered a new phase in the evolution of its ever widening collective governance, what some have called the modern era. To a great extent, the notion of ‘sovereign states’, made explicit by that 17th century treaty, is still the basic premise on which peoples and nations interact and also still the basic premise of the UN system.
The 60+ years since the founding of the UN and the 50 years since the signing of the Treaty of Rome, have witnessed, on the one hand, the world-wide extension of this notion of sovereign states—with the accession to national sovereignty of the former colonies—and, at the same time, a clear calling into question of the validity, legitimacy and usefulness of the notion itself, as well as the emergence of what some have called as ‘threats’ to the very notion of national sovereignty.
Threat to national sovereignty or not, but there is the need for concerted action, on all fronts to address some other, very real threats ... for the world's peace, security and well-being. ‘Concerted action’ is called for because nations attempting in isolation to tackle such problems as environmental pollution, terrorism, natural catastrophes, epidemics of infectious diseases and global financial crises—to name but the most conspicuous—are doomed to fail. Thus, the question to all peoples and nations of relinquishing national sovereignty is no longer a question of ‘yes or no?’, but clearly ‘how much?’, to ‘whom?’, ‘with what benefits?’, ‘with what urgency?’ and ‘with what safeguards?’
Not only is action to be concerted amongst nations, but also among the other actors on the world scene, in particular, civil society (including both business and religion, powerful actors which cannot be ignored). It must also be ‘on all fronts’ because the new paradigm that stares us in the face is that of the interconnected nature of both our challenges and our prosperity. Whatever the issue, whether it be those already mentioned above or HIV/AIDS, the role of women, corruption, poverty, the future of our children, religion, or the rights of minorities—none can be isolated from the others. The concept of health impact assessment is one way of articulating that interconnectedness, albeit from an ex parte angle. To move forward, together, unitedly and on all fronts—and there is an urgency to do so—it will be necessary to call into question, frankly, openly, and dispassionately, the validity of many premises which are so dear to our hearts and which, however useful they may have been at earlier stages in the development of humankind, have now ceased to promote its peace, security, and well-being: our legal standards, our political philosophies, machineries and systems, our economic theories, our long-cherished values, our religious formulae. This will be painful, but is unavoidable.
The EU and Europe in general (e.g., with the Council of Europe and the European Convention on Human Rights), are in the forefront of the move towards supranational governance. There have been and will be advances and setbacks. The acceleration of European integration in recent years has been paralleled by an acceleration of supranational forms of governance throughout the world: the establishment of the World Trade Organization and the creation of the International Criminal Court, the African Union, the greatly increased global coordination of campaigns of civil society and more recently the formulation of the Millennium Development Goals as a guideline and standard for international collaborative efforts.
EUPHA has great potential to participate in this move as a major protagonist, in the EU, in Europe and in the world. We need to read aright the signs of the times and draw forth the appropriate responses.
John-Paul Vader
President EUPHA
EUPHA office column: is it time for one European Association for public health issues?
In the European arena of public health, there are a number of non-governmental associations working in the general field of public health. We all pursue the same ultimate goal which is to promote public health in Europe. Whether one association puts the emphasis on management, another on public health training and a third on general public health, the objective remains the same. At the same time, these associations are in competition with each other on many levels: there is overlap in activities, in members (including board members), in conference themes and in contacting financial sponsors. The question that often comes up is whether one European Association for public health issues would not be the logical next step.EUPHA has had a long history of working closely with other public health associations such as the Association of Schools of Public Health in the European Region (ASPER), the European Health Management Association (EHMA), the European Public Health Alliance (EPHA), the International Union for Health Promotion and Education (IUHPE) and the European Association for Communication in Health Care (EACH). The collaboration goes from simple exchange of information to joint projects and conferences.
The question remains whether this ad-hoc collaboration is enough or whether more permanent steps towards collaboration should be made. This question is becoming more pressing, taking into account the recent move of the EHMA office to Brussels as well as the drying up of financial sources. More permanent steps could include:
- The organisation of one public health conference in Europe. This clearly has benefits as all the public health information exchanges will take place in one location, there will be no competition for keynote speakers, participants and finances and we will encourage one voice for public health in Europe.
- The publication of one joint newsletter is also beneficial for all associations and the receivers of newsletters.
- The merging of administrative activities will lower the financial costs of the ‘office’.
EUPHA and ASPHER are planning to organise two workshops at our conferences in October this year to discuss the possibilities of collaboration with the different associations and with our members. We hope that these workshops will pave the way for one European association for public health issues in the future.
Dineke Zeegers Paget
EUPHA general manager
EUPHA Helsinki 2007 conference
When writing this in the mid April, the programme of the 15th European Conference on Public Health to be organised in Helsinki, Finland, on October 11–13, 2007, is still under preparation. First of all, we do not know yet the most important part of the programme: the contribution of the conference participants through submitted abstracts. However, most keynote speakers have already been confirmed. The overall conference theme is ‘The Future of Public Health in the Unified Europe’. In the conference, the theme will be introduced by Professor Martin McKee (London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine LSHTM, London, UK) and other keynote speakers will address the theme from different perspectives. These include: Professor Denny Vågerö (Centre for Health Equity Studies CHESS, Stockholm) who as a member of the WHO Commission on Social Determinants of Health will reflect the contribution of the WHO Commission to respond European public health challenges; Director General Pekka Puska (National Public Health Institute, Helsinki, Finland) who will review the future challenges and solutions of health promotion and Professor Richard B. Saltman (Emory University, Atlanta, USA) who will give a plenary presentation on the current development and potential futures of European health care systems.As in previous years, the EUPHA conference will offer a platform for an abundant choice of satellite seminars, expert meetings and training events. This year in the context of the EUPHA conference, the Nordic Public Health Associations will organise the 18th Nordic Conference in Public Health and Social Medicine. The Nordic Conference titled ‘The Nordic Welfare Model and its Future Prospects’ will also be open for all EUPHA conference participants. Other pre-conference events include, for instance, a health service research training seminar on ‘Comparative research designs in the study of health care systems’. Of the EUPHA Sections, the Social Security and Health and Migrant Health Sections will organise full-day pre-conference seminars. The seminar of the Migrant Health Section will focus on methodological issues in migrant research and bring up the latest results from Nordic immigration research. The EUPHA Sections on Mental Health and Injury Prevention & Safety Promotion will organise a joint seminar exploring the psychological impacts of unintentional and intentional injuries and violence. In addition, an expert seminar on population interventions in health promotion will evaluate population-based approaches and their effectiveness in health promotion.
The three and a half days of the EUPHA 2007 conference will be packed with valuable scientific programmes. Besides, the conference will offer an enjoyable social programme which enables the participants to practice effective networking with international public health experts and professionals. Further information on the conference registration, payments and accommodation is available from the EUPHA home page www.eupha.org. The updated conference programme will be available at the conference home page www.euphahelsinki2007.fi.
The Society for Social Medicine, Finland, warmly welcomes the European public health community to participate in the 15th European Conference on Public Health, Helsinki, Finland, October 11–13, 2007.
Hannamaria Kuusio
Conference Manager, Society for Social Medicine, Finland
News from the EUPHA Section on health promotion
The workshop of the health promotion section in Montreux was dedicated to 20 years Ottawa Charta of Health Promotion in general and to Professor Dr. Ilona Kickbusch as the spiritus rector of the Ottawa Charta in particular. Four experts (Bauer, Green, Paulus and Pelikan) gave papers concerning ‘20 years health promotion research in and on settings (workplace, community, hospital and school)’. The workshop was very well attended and the speakers were invited by the International Union of Health Promotion and Education to present their work also in the IUHPE World Conference this year in Canada.In Helsinki, our section is going to organise a joint workshop together with IUHPE on ‘capacity building in health promotion’. We would ask specifically for papers on competencies in health promotion and public health; education and training initiatives especially using innovative teaching and learning methods; professional standards and accreditation; infrastructures and policies for effective health promotion and effective methods of monitoring and evaluation.
Heiko Waller
EUPHA section president, Germany
News from the EUPHA Section on public health practice and policy
Practice and Policy now constitute two important pillars of EUPHA's future work. At present, a discussion on the re-organisation of EUPHA is being undertaken. It will be important to ensure that the new structure and activities of EUPHA will be such that it gives the space and resources to develop these strands of work. |
European health strategy |
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TopPresident's Column: Rome, Europe...European health strategyLinking research and policyReferences |
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There is a need for EUPHA to engage as an effective partner at the European level in spearheading the development of European public health policy. The European Commission has announced that it will publish a health strategy in Summer 2007. The preliminary document that was launched to stimulate a discussion indicated that the focus will remain on core public health issues that could include smoking, obesity and mental health. It is being proposed that this should be complemented by work on health in all policies and attention to global health issues.
Health in all policies is an innovative approach that was the main theme for the Finnish Presidency of the European Union last year. However, for health in all policies to become a practical reality and not just an inspirational goal, the public health community needs to adopt new methods of working. Sharing of best practices in this area will surely help to render health in all policies a core element of public health practice.
The attention to global health issues is timely and important. Global public health issues such as HIV/AIDs, TB and malaria affect the health of millions of people. A coordinated approach between all stakeholders and the promotion of sustainable development will go a long way towards improving health for all.
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Linking research and policy |
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TopPresident's Column: Rome, Europe...European health strategyLinking research and policyReferences |
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The SPHERE (strengthening public health research in Europe) project has initiated an important domain of activity for EUPHA. The need to analyse and disseminate public health research has already been amply demonstrated. However, SPHERE should be viewed as a starting point upon which to build further. The opportunities being presented by the Public Health Programme and the Health Chapter of the Research Framework Programme (FP7) should be taken up by EUPHA in order to develop further its pillars of activity.
The EUPHA section on public health practice and policy has an important role to play at this exciting point in the development of EUPHA against the backdrop of developments taking place in European Public Health. This EUPHA section can be instrumental in fostering the development of EUPHA as partner organisation, which is proactive and looking forward in formulating health policy at a European level. Increasing collaboration between EUPHA sections and encouraging joint initiatives are instrumental to this approach.
We look forward to welcoming persons who are interested in contributing actively to the development of public health policy and practice to join this section. We shall be working to organise a stimulating discussion and workshop in Helsinki on the role that EUPHA can play in taking forward evidence-based policies to promote public health in Europe.
Natasha Azzopardi Muscat
EUPHA section president, Malta
ERRATUM EJPH 17-2
Please note that the wrong title of the WHO/EURO column in EJPH 17-2 was printed. The title should have been: A charter on obesity. We apologize for any inconvenience.The impact of economic and social development on health status is now well understood and forms the basis for much inter-sectoral action in public health. In recent years, increasing attention has been given to the reverse relationship, the extent to which health has an impact on wealth. Evidence first from poor countries in the landmark work of the Commission on Macroeconomics and Health1 and more recently from middle-income and rich countries in the WHO European Region shows that improved health makes a major contribution to economic growth through enhanced labour productivity, greater labour supply, higher skills from better education and training and more savings available for investment in physical and intellectual capital.2,3
This evidence sheds new light on our understanding of health and health system investment. While spending on health systems is often perceived as a burden on public budgets undermining the global competitiveness of countries’ economies, the opposite may be true. Investing in health system interventions (both curative and preventive) and in broader inter-sectoral activities will translate into greater economic competitiveness, enhance the goals of the Lisbon agenda and contribute to the financial sustainability of the European social model. This only holds true, however, when these interventions are both appropriate and cost-effective. The burden of proof is therefore on the health system actors to assess and demonstrate its levels of performance against societal goals.
The relationship between health systems, health and wealth will be at the core of the forthcoming WHO European Ministerial Conference on Health Systems to be held in Tallinn, Estonia in June 2008.4 This conference will focus on the central role of health systems in improving health and contributing to economic growth and, ultimately, to social welfare. It will highlight the importance of assessing the performance of health systems and put forward a series of health system strategies and innovations aimed at enhancing performance. In a number of consultations, Member States have identified four areas that require more detailed consideration, which will be addressed in a series of pre-conference events on the following topics: assessing performance, human resources, integrated care and public health governance.
The first pre-conference meeting with the participation of Member States and international experts took place in Brussels 29–30 March 2007 on the subject of assessing health systems performance. The meeting focused on the uses of performance measurement for improving health systems governance and addressed issues of monitoring, benchmarking and accountability, transparency and patient empowerment and the links with financial incentives and regulatory instruments.5
Josep Figueras
Director, European Observatory on Health Systems and Policies, WHO European Centre for Health Policy, WHO Regional Office for Europe
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References |
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TopPresident's Column: Rome, Europe...European health strategyLinking research and policyReferences |
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1 Macroeconomics and health: investing in health for economic development (2001) Geneva: World Health Organization.
2 Suhrcke M, McKee M, Sauto Arce R, Tsolova S, Mortensen J. The contribution of health to the economy in the European Union. (2005) Brussels: European Commission.
3 Suhrcke M, Rocco L, McKee M. European Observatory on Health Systems and Policies Copenhagen, WHO Regional Office for Europe. (forthcoming 2007). In: Health: a vital investment for economic development in eastern Europe and central Asia.
4 WHO European Ministerial Conference on Health Systems [web site]. (2007) Copenhagen: WHO Regional Office for Europe. (http://www.euro.who.int/healthsystems2008, accessed 18 April 2007).
5 Smith P, Mossialos E. Performance measurement for health systems improvement. Health Evidence Network/ European Observatory policy brief series. Copenhagen, WHO Regional Office for Europe. (forthcoming 2008).
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