EuroHealthNet announces new President and launches its Annual Report 2021/22
EuroHealthNet, the European Partnership of public authorities and organisations working on improving health equity and wellbeing, is pleased to announce its new president, Prof. Dr. Martin Dietrich, who is the (acting) Director of the Federal Centre for Health Education (BZgA) in Germany.
Today the EuroHealthNet Partnership held its annual General Council Meeting in Brussels to take stock of the past year and discuss how to strategically harness opportunities to advance public health policy, practice and research in Europe.
The new EuroHealthNet Executive Board looks forward to working with Prof. Dietrich, and continuing to guide the EuroHealthNet Partnership to adopt and advocate for more ‘resilient’ health and social care systems, which are better able to adapt to change and sustain health and wellbeing for people and planet. About his new role, Prof. Dietrich stated:
"I am grateful and pleased to have been elected as the next President of EuroHealthNet. EuroHealthNet provides an excellent opportunity for its members to learn from each other about effective and evidence-based health promotion. In order to meet the coming challenges for health and wellbeing, the experience an knowledge accumulated in Europe is a treasure that should be shared and expanded as a European response. This will also foster much needed social innovations that will benefit public health in Europe."
Dr Mojca Gabrijelčič Blenkuš, Senior Advisor at the National Institute of Public Health (NIJZ), Slovenia has served as president for the past 4 years and will transition into a role of Honorary Advisor to the Executive Board. EuroHealthNet is grateful she will continue offering her expertise and counsel to the Partnership. Dr Gabrijelčič stated:
“It is an exceptional privilege to have served as EuroHealthNet President. We are a strong and prominent partnership which catalyses public health and health promotion activities across diverse contexts and at EU level. During the recent challenging years, we have developed our new strategy and advocated for equity and wellbeing for all EU citizens. Our Brussels office is the intelligence generator at the core of our Partnership, enabling us to co-create health in all policies and act jointly, amplifying the impact of our efforts.”
EuroHealthNet is also delighted to publish its new Annual Report 2021/22 'Building resilience in times of change’, approved by the General Council today. The report presents our work to cushion the blows to population health caused by the pandemic and other crises, while seizing opportunities to improve the resilience and sustainability of our health and social systems in the face of complex challenges.
We built resilience in these times of change by
- Launching our Strategic Development Plan for 2021-2026 and our new brand to ensure continued relevance and accessibility of our work.
- Advocating for the ‘Economy of Wellbeing’ and the European Pillar of Social Rights as tools to encourage investment in the determinants of health.
- Providing analysis and inserting a health equity perspective into key EU policy processes such as the Recovery and Resilience Funds, European Health Union, the EU Child Guarantee, and the European Care Strategy.
- Contributing to the WHO Europe Programme of Work through our Memorandum of Understanding (2021-2026).
- Harnessing the potential of the green transition to improve health and equity. This has included establishing a new Thematic Working Group (TWIG) on healthy living environments.
- Ensuring an equitable digital transition, as was the focus of our 2021 Annual Seminar. Another new TWIG focuses on using (digital) social marketing to address addictions.
- Building capacity of health professionals to communicate about vaccines and improve vaccine uptake, with a particular focus on achieving vaccine equity in underserved communities.
A new Gender, Diversity and Inclusion Strategy, adopted during the General Council Meeting, complements the existing operational framework and aims to build a diverse workforce and inclusive workplace. Additionally, an expansion of the use of accessibility and translation tools have made EuroHealthNet materials more readily available to all audiences.
Below is a list of presentations held during the General Council Meeting 2021.
1 - Caroline Costongs - Annual report 2021-22
2 - Alison Maassen - EuroHealthNet External Evaluation
3 - Daniela Kallayova - EU4Health, SANTE SGPP process & NCDs initiative
4 - Caroline Costongs - European Semester, Recovery & Resilience Facility for Reform & Investments
5 - Vertti Kiukas - The Societies at a Crossroads - Rights-Based Approach to Health Equity
6 - Dorota Sienkiewicz - European Pillar of Social Rights Flashcards Tool
7 - Djoeke van Dale - European Collaboration for Programme Registers
8 - Lina Papartyte - CEV Promoting health in the community, social prescribing and other strategies
9 - Loes Neven & Dorota Sienkiewicz - Sustainable & Healthy Foods for All
10 - Alba Godfrey - Research Platform Activities & Horizon Europe Calls for Proposals