Health Highlights September 2022

Welcome to Health Highlights, EuroHealthNet’s monthly newsletter. We bring you the most important news and information about health equity, wellbeing, and their determinants.

On 14 September, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen gave her annual State of the Union address, outlining the Commission’s priorities for the coming year. She announced that 2023 will mark the European Year of Education and Skills and that certain proposals from the Conference on the Future of Europe will be taken on, including a new initiative on mental health. Whilst the mention of mental health action is welcome, the largely absent reference to health was flagged by many. Speaking to Politico, we argued that the EU needs to focus on strengthening health systems, investments for health and prevention (beyond vaccination), sustainable and health-promoting food systems, and health equity.  

During the 72nd meeting of the WHO Regional Committee for Europe, Member States adopted the Region’s first-ever digital health action plan. The plan promotes digital tools and health literacy as means to advance universal health coverage, protect people from health emergencies, and promote health and wellbeing. In our joint statement, we argued for equitable solutions, the need for labelling and certification schemes for m-health, and the standardisation of digital tools. 

The Regional Committee also approved the European regional action framework for behavioural and cultural insights (BCI) for health 2022–2027. In a joint statement, EuroHealthNet, EUPHA and other Non-State Actors advocated for the systematic and integrated use of BCI, and related training of the health workforce. EuroHealthNet was also involved in two other statements on the WHO Roadmap to accelerate the elimination of cervical cancer and the European framework for action on alcohol 2022–2025.

The rising cost of living is increasingly affecting health and wellbeing. The European Parliament has adopted new legislation on adequate minimum wages, with the aim of improving working and living conditions for all workers in the EU. This law establishes minimum requirements for the adequacy of statutory minimum wages and enhances effective access of workers to minimum wage protection. In a complementary move and in line with Principle 14 of the European Pillar of Social Rights, the European Commission also proposed a Council Recommendation on adequate minimum income schemes to protect the most vulnerable by reducing the risk of poverty and social exclusion.

Published ahead of the launch of the European Care Strategy, the new Policy Précis lays out how current models of care fall short and perpetuate inequalities, and explores new models of ‘health-promoting’ care. Such models strengthen collaboration across sectors, and empower people to become more socially and economically engaged. The Policy Précis provides an overview of EU policies, tools and programmes that can help governments, as well as inspirational examples from our members in Austria, Slovenia and Andalusia (Spain).

With a focus on building a European Health Union, the European Health Forum Gastein featured discussions on a wide breadth of topics. EuroHealthNet presented the Economy of Wellbeing model that can facilitate the necessary paradigm shift in our societies and economies and form a vision of hope for Europeans. We also reiterated the importance of co-creative governance in the transition to sustainable food systems for healthy living environments for consumers, where we introduced EuroHealthNet’s newest EU-funded project FEAST.

Our member institute Gesundheit Österreich GmbH (Austrian National Public Health Institute) held a successful session on health promotion as a connector between multiple sectors. EuroHealthNet also contributed to sessions on championing policies and reforms which foster health equity and the Nobody Left Outside network’s discussions around including the voices of the most marginalised communities into EU policymaking, practice and research.

A summary report and recorded sessions will be made available soon.  

EuroHealthNet has responded to consultations on: 

• The EU Global Health Strategy 
• Call for evidence on Digital Skills – improving their provision  

Find all our consultation responses here. 

Other ongoing consultations: 

• European Commission study on the barriers to effective development and implementation of national policies on antimicrobial resistance (AMR) – Invitation to fill in the most applicable survey below – Deadline 18 October 
  • Survey for hospitals and long-term care facilities   
  • Survey for primary care providers and pharmacies 
  • Survey for other stakeholders in the human health, animal, plant, and environmental sectors 
• Strengthening social dialogue – Deadline 20 October 

To combat the prevailing stigma of mental health, the Lithuanian Ministry of Health has started implementing the Mental Health Ambassadors initiative. This initiative aims to empower people who experience(d) mental health difficulties personally or have loved ones affected by mental health difficulties by inviting them to become ambassadors of their communities and share their experiences.

Building on the Welsh Social Prescribing Interface Model, Public Health Wales highlights the distinctions and synergies between social prescribing and physical and mental health services, wellbeing activities and community assets. The report provides five recommendations to inform strategic direction and policy development in the efforts to implement the Welsh Government’s forthcoming national framework for social prescribing.

• EuroHealthNet co-signed a European Food Policy Coalition joint open letter to the President of the European Commission advocating for the inclusion of a framework on Sustainable Food Systems in the 2023 Commission work programme. It has now been confirmed that this will indeed be the case. 

• EuroHealthNet, as part of the EU4Health Civil Society Alliance, signed a Joint Statement that called for inclusion of Operating Grants for health NGOs in the EU4Health 2023 Work Programme. European Commissioner Stella Kyriakides later confirmed that those would be included.           

• The Ministry of Health and Consumer Affairs in Andalusia has reinforced its Mental Health Clinical Management Units with 26 suicide prevention professionals, to develop a dedicated suicide prevention programme tailored for vulnerable patients with risk factors.  

• The Prolepis Institute organises conference to present the outcomes of two EU-funded educational projects –  iHERE  (Digital HEalth liteRacy Education for vulnerable groups) and  MIG – DHL (MIGrants Digital Health Literacy), both of which aimed to develop educational tools to build the digital literacy of vulnerable groups.          

• The Dutch National Institute for Public Health and the Environment (RIVM) calculated that postponed operations during COVID-19 resulted in 320,000 healthy life years lost in the Netherlands.   

• Research supported by Pharos indicates that employees who participate in coaching sessions are five times more likely to work on improving their health than those without coaching.

• An assessment from the Polish National Institute of Public Health showed that pandemic fatigue among the population could have had a role in low compliance with protective measures, and that communication and specific interventions are needed to understand and respond to the needs of the society.  

• From a national survey carried out Public Health Wales, over three quarters of Welsh residents believe that climate change will damage mental health and increase the costs of heating homes and purchasing food. Other concerns flagged include the impact of climate change on reduced access to health and care services, the greater spread of infectious diseases and increased incidence of physical illness.  

The European Commission released the long-awaited European Care Strategy, promoting better quality, availability and affordability of long-term care (LTC) and early childhood education and care (ECEC), and social fairness for care givers. Ahead of the launch of the strategy, EuroHealthNet published a Policy Précis on ‘health-promoting’ care.

As part of the EU’s Beating Cancer Plan, the European Commission launched a proposal for new Council Recommendations on cancer screening. The Recommendation specifically notes the importance of equal access to screening, taking into account the needs of particular socioeconomic groups, people with disabilities and people living in rural or remote areas. 

The consultation report on sustainability of food systems finds that most respondents agreed on the need for greater sustainability in food systems. Of those surveyed, 70% cited the lack of systematic integration of sustainability in food system operations as hindering sustainable food choices. 99% of respondents indicated that schools and public institutions should consider sustainability when purchasing food. Targets on (added) sugars, salt and saturated fat received support from 83% of respondents in general, while 36% of businesses and their associations disagreed. 

The WHO guidelines on mental health at work present a series of evidence-based recommendations to improve ground-level implementation around mental health promotion and prevention, empowering those with mental health conditions to participate and thrive at work. Based on these recommendations, an accompanying policy brief on mental health at work, developed jointly by WHO and the International Labour Organization (ILO), was produced to provide a pragmatic implementation framework for different stakeholders and work settings.  

Catastrophic health spending Romania has a high incidence of catastrophic health spending than other EU countries, indicating a high proportion of households cannot afford to pay for other basic needs, such as food housing and electricity – WHO/Europe 

Child health In the face of rising fuel poverty, cold homes will instigate a wave of respiratory illness among children, with long-term consequences – Article by Prof. Michael Marmot in The Guardian   

Commercial determinants Switzerland has planned a ban on tobacco advertisements that are likely to reach children– Swiss Federal Office of Public Health   

Commercial determinants A framework for measuring the commercial determinants of health can facilitate targeted interventions – International Journal of Health Services   

COVID-19 WHO/Europe urges countries to take action in tackling long-COVID symptoms,  which has affected at least 17 million people.   

COVID-19 Failures of international cooperation at multiple levels in tackling COVID-19 led to millions of preventable deaths and reversed progress on the UN SDGs – The Lancet  

Digital transition A literature review on workplace digitalisation notes major concern on the acceleration of advanced technologies, widening the digital divide between groups of workers – European Parliament   

Economy of Wellbeing The design of economies is too important to leave to economists. Economic policy needs to be in service of “health for all” – BMJ    

Economy of Wellbeing in a Wellbeing Economy, the economy is an enabler of societal outcomes, and is equitable, restorative and regenerative by design – Health Promotion International   

Health checks France will set up free health checks at 25, 45 and 65 years old to boost prevention, improve health and screen for cancer – Les Echos   

Healthy ageing WHO announces the Healthy Ageing Collaborative, a cross-sectoral and multistakeholder group to improve the lives of older groups, their families and communities   

Mental health Joint Action on Implementation of Best Practices in the area of Mental Health launches an experience-based guidance document to support the development or upscaling of national suicide prevention programs.   

Non-communicable diseases WHO launches guidance on systems thinking for noncommunicable disease prevention policy, including a practical decision aid to bring system approaches into practice   

Non-communicable diseases WHO publishes report on the true extent of NCDs and what can be done. It estimates that spending another $18 billion annually in countries with high NCD mortality could contribute to around $2.7 trillion in net economic benefits over the next seven years.    

Non-communicable diseases WHO creates Non-Communicable Diseases Data Portal, segmenting data by country and by key risk factors.  

Obesity At the current pace, the economic impact of overweight and obesity is projected to rise to 3.3% of GDP globally by 2060, signalling the need for concerted and holistic action – BMJ   

Mental health In the face of healthcare workforce shortages, discussions highlight the importance of improving the health sector’s working conditions, particularly for mental wellbeing- EURACTIV   

Nutrition ICLEI has opened a petition that demands that the EU School Food Scheme and ‘Farm to Fork’ strategy include the right for every child to healthy, sustainable school lunches and education. The petition will be send to European Commissioner Stella Kyriakides, and can be signed by individuals and organisations until 11 October.   

Nutrition The EU Joint Research Centre publishes the results of four scientific studies related to food information to consumers and empowering consumers to make healthier and sustainable choices.    

Physical activity A Eurobarometer survey shows that up to 45% of Europeans never exercise or partake in physical activity   

Social prescribing Psychiatrists at the Brugmann Hospital, Brussels (Belgium) can prescribe museum visits to patients with symptoms of depression, burnout and other mental health issues – Politico   

Sustainable food systems Declaration of the Leaders’ Summit on Global Food Security outlines the need to urgently act in line with the goals of the 2021 Food Systems Summit, respond to immediate humanitarian needs and build more resilient agriculture and food systems.   

Urban planning  Urban design can play a significant role in the challenges to physical, mental and social wellbeing of communities – WHO/Europe 

• Protecting environments and health by building urban resilience – WHO/Europe and the Union for the Mediterranean – 4 October  

• 4th Digital Health Summit – ECHAlliance and the Digital Health Society – 4-5 October  

• Final conference on Erasmus+ funded projects Active Ageing Communities and New Health – 6 October (Brussels)   

• World Mental Health Day (with a focus on migrants, refugees and mental health) – Mental Health Europe, 10 October (hybrid event)  

• 20th edition of the European Week of Regions and Cities “New Challenges for Europe’s Cohesion” – 10-13 October  

• Final conference of the DWELL Project (developing and evaluating an innovative psychoeducational programme for people with type 2 diabetes) – 13 October 

• Final conference of the TICC project (Transforming Integrated Care in the Community) – 14 October  

• World Health Summit 2022 – 16-18 October (Berlin)        

• Info session on second wave of EU4Health open calls for action grants – European Commission – 19 October  

• The Institute of Public Health Ireland: webinar on “Getting Active for Better Ageing” – 20 October   

• EuroHealthNet Horizon Europe Info and match-making day – 21 October (Members only)  

• Sixth edition of the Just Transition Platform Conference – European Commission – 24-26 October (hybrid event)  

• Dialogic approach to integrate multi-professional work in educational, health and social sectors – Dialogical Work Erasmus+ – 27 October (hybrid event)  

• 15th European Public Health Conference (programme now available) – 9-12 November, Berlin  

• European Employment & Social Rights Forum – 16-17 November

• The Geneva Charter: Realising Societal Well-being – 8 September (Recording available here)
• Introducing the EU Care Strategy: Webinar on Stakeholders’ Initial Reactions – 9 September (Recording available here).
• COVID-19 and mental health: taking forward the lessons learned, organised by Mental Health Europe, DG SANTE and the Health Policy Platform – 21 September (Recording available here)
• ‘Research & Innovation Days 2022 – 28-29 September 2022 (Recordings available here)   

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