Equity Action (2011 – 2014)

Equity Action was a Joint Action between the EU and Member States. It aimed to reduce health inequalities by helping to improve policies at national and regional level and harness the contribution of stakeholders. It was jointly funded by the EU Health Programme, 15 EU Member States and Norway, and involves 25 partner organisations, 30 regions and numerous stakeholders.

The aim of the project was to promote a health equity focus in policy making through identifying tools to analyse and influence policy making processes such as Health Impact Assessments with an equity focus and Health Equity Audits, as well as through learning from practices.

The Equity Action final conference took place on the 23rd of January 2014 in Brussels, Belgium. It brought together international experts on health inequalities, officials and policy makers from Member States and the EU and a range of key stakeholders. During the conference there were leadership keynotes from Sir Michael Marmot (Institute of Health Equity), Commissioner Tonio Borg (DG SANCO) and Zsuzsanna Jakab (Director WHO Europe). Political contributions from the European Parliament, the United Kingdom Department of Health as well as the Greek Presidency of the EU were also included.

Find Equity Action’s final report here.

EuroHealthNet coordinated a work package on ‘Regions’, which produced a report Health Equity and Regional Development in the EU – Applying EU Structural Funds.

For more resources from Equity Action, please contact info@eurohealthnet.eu.