2022 in review: Making progress towards a sustainable, social and healthy Europe
2022 was a turbulent year. We are living in times of ‘poly-crisis’, due to conflict on our borders, rising costs of living, a growing and unequal burden of disease, and accelerating consequences of climate change. To face these urgent and interconnected crises, acting in solidarity to make progress towards a strong, sustainable, social and healthy Europe has never been more important.
The 'poly-crisis' - an opportunity for a transition towards an Economy of Wellbeing
Working towards a future where Europe and its people thrive, EuroHealthNet advocates for a transition to an Economy of Wellbeing.
By presenting an economy that benefits people and the planet, this model can be a compass towards healthier, more inclusive and sustainable societies. It can also help move the focus of our overburdened and unsustainable health systems away from ‘repair and cure’ and towards ‘prevent, protect and enable’.
Advocating for health-promoting models of care
By seeking to promote affordable and accessible care services with better conditions for carers, the new European Care Strategy will directly affect health and wellbeing.
In a Policy Précis and through responses to policy consultations, EuroHealthNet advocated for actions to transition to ‘health-promoting’ models of care. Such models empower people in their communities, promote quality of care and help reduce poverty and social inequalities.
Are EU Member States using pandemic recovery funds to promote health?
The EU Recovery and Resilience Facility offers opportunities for Member States to fund initiatives that improve public health and address inequalities.
EuroHealthNet's yearly analysis dives into national plans and implementation in eight countries. We see some inspirational examples, but also have some concerns . Have a look at our 2022 analysis.
Improving psychosocial wellbeing for healthy and active ageing
Psychosocial risk factors at work, such as conflicting work-family life obligations, job insecurity and stress have detrimental effects on health, and disproportionally affect older workers (55+).
EuroHealthNet published a policy brief for protecting older workers from occupational psychosocial risks, making six recommendations for employers and policy-makers. The release of the brief was accompanied by a webinar.
A new Executive Board
The EuroHealthNet Partnership elected Prof Dr Martin Dietrich, the Acting Director of the German Federal Centre for Health Education (BZgA), as its new President. Dr Sumina Azam of Public Health Wales and Pia Sundell from the Finnish Federation for Social Affairs and Health were elected Vice Presidents.
The Executive Board will work with the EuroHealthNet team to take forward the Strategic Development Plan until 2026.
More highlights from 2022
EuroHealthNet members, EU representatives and other stakeholders gathered in Brussels to discuss policies and practices to invest in wellbeing for young and old to help people thrive and grow stronger in times of crisis.
We worked closely with WHO/Europe, as defined by our Memorandum of Understanding, and led a statement with 28 Non-State Actors for the WHO Regional Committee to call for an equitable digital health transition.
National authorities and members from Slovenia, the Netherlands, Scotland, Greece and Spain co-authored four analyses of COVID-19 health system responses for the WHO European Observatory on Health Systems and Policies.
Delegates from 12 member institutes convened for a valuable Country Exchange Visit on social prescribing. kindly hosted by the Portuguese National Institute of Health Doutor Ricardo Jorge.
EuroHealthNet responded to the war in Ukraine by calling for more integrated, coordinated European action to ensure the fundamentals of good health in the face of conflict, and co-organised a High-level Round Table with neighbouring countries with SEEHN to discuss common challenges and potential actions.
To be expected this year
The European Pillar of Social Rights (EPSR) will further guide our work towards a strong social and healthy Europe. Our EPSR Flashcards, to be released soon, will be a practical tool to help health policy makers and public health professionals embed the EPSR principles in their work. Each flashcard will explore a EPSR principle and how public health authorities throughout Europe are already using the principle to achieve greater health and wellbeing.
As partners in a variety of new European initiatives, we will also continue our collaboration on topics such as health promotion in schools, mental, digital and environmental health, and community-based care. A new Policy Précis on fostering vaccine equity, which builds on the lessons of the IMMUNION and RIVER-EU projects, will be released this month.
The EuroHealthNet Annual Seminar and General Council will take place in Oslo, Norway on the 5-7th of June 2023 in close collaboration with the Norwegian Directorate of Health.
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Related resources
An Economy of Wellbeing for health equity - Policy Précis
Reducing inequalities by investing in health-promoting care
- A Policy Précis