European Public Health Alliance (EPHA)

🌍 Global Public Health Week is coming up, and this year’s theme is “Redefining Equity: Decolonizing Public Health for a Healthier World”. In partnership with the European Cancer Organisation, EPHA is organising a webinar: “Combating Ethnic Disparities in Healthcare.” Structural injustices caused by discrimination and racism lead to health inequities, particularly along ethnic or gender lines. By using breast and prostate cancer as a case study, we will explore structural barriers in access, prevention, diagnosis and treatment based on gender and ethnicity.     This webinar will therefore:  🔸 Raise awareness of ethnic disparities in cancer care.  🔸 Connect global initiatives on health equity, ethnicity, and gender.  🔸 Identify best practices to combat racism and discrimination in health.    Through expert presentations and a diverse panel discussion, we bring together patients, academia, and policymakers to explore solutions for addressing ethnic disparities in cancer care and to champion health equity.    📅 When: 9 April 16:00-17:30 CEST (Online)    🔗More info on the webinar and the registration link can be found here: https://lnkd.in/ePiFsXRc #GPHW2025 #GlobalPublicHealthWeek #GlobalPublicHealthWeek2025

🚨 #EarlyMarriage and early motherhood violate fundamental human rights, disproportionately affecting women and girls.      Opinion article by Klimaka NGO:    🔗 https://lnkd.in/eiMxwpmv    Globally, over 650 million women experience the severe consequences of early marriage and motherhood, which include:      🔸 Increased risks of health problems, particularly sexual, reproductive and mental health  🔸 Limited freedom, autonomy and economic opportunities  🔸 Barriers to education and employment   🔸 Higher likelihood of living in poverty and social exclusion  🇪🇺 The Roma Influencers Network project, funded under the Erasmus+ program, addresses the #harmful practice of early marriages and early motherhood in Roma communities. 📢 Instead of being spectators of their social reality, Roma women and girls can #advocate for their own futures and take action to end child marriage guaranteeing a fairer, more secure and prosperous future for themselves, as well as other women and girls.

⚖️ The European Economic and Social Committee reports that nearly 40 million women and girls in the EU live with a #disability. Caregiving responsibilities leave little time for self-care, and when they seek healthcare, they encounter inaccessibility and bias.    Opinion article by Make Mothers Matter - MMM:  🔗https://lnkd.in/eubHkFPr   🔸 Mothers with disabilities experience heightened stress, anxiety, and depression, often due to the lack of support during and after pregnancy.  🔸 Women disproportionately perform unpaid caregiving, which is undervalued and unrecognised.  🔸 Access to healthcare remains an obstacle for mothers with disabilities due to inaccessible facilities, lack of adaptive equipment, and discriminatory attitudes.  🔸 In healthcare settings, mothers with disabilities face biases that can result in disrespectful treatment and lack of informed consent, undermining their autonomy and well-being.    ❗ Policymakers and society in general must act now to remove barriers and provide tailored #support to ensure that all mothers, regardless of ability, can thrive.

💡 Health at the Heart of Europe’s Future 💡 Over 150 participants joined the EU4Health Civil Society Alliance at the European Parliament to discuss the future of health in the next Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF).    The event was hosted by MEPs Tilly Metz (Greens, Luxembourg), Stine Bosse (Renew, Denmark), Vytenis Andriukaitis (S&D, Lithuania) and Andras Kulja MD (EPP, Hungary). The panel, chaired by EPHA’s Milka Sokolović and EPF’s Anca Toma, gathered Irene Norstedt (European Commission, DG RTD), Michele Calabro' (EUREGHA), Marleen Kestens (European Heart Network) and Marleen PM Bekker (Wageningen University and EUPHA). Together, attendees and panellists underscored the urgent need for long-term funding for civil society organisations (CSOs) and a fully resourced European Health Union.   With growing health challenges—from NCDs to cross-border threats—CSOs must have a seat at the table. The message was clear: health must be a priority in the EU budget to ensure resilience, equity, and sustainable solutions for all. #EU4HealthCSA #EuropeanHealthUnion #HealthFunding #CivilSociety #PublicHealth European Patients' Forum European Heart Network (EHN) EUPHA - European Public Health Association EUREGHA - European Regional and Local Health Authorities European People's Party Socialists and Democrats Group in the European Parliament Renew Europe Clémentine Richer Delforge Yann Heyer

💨 #AirPollution is the top environmental risk to health in Europe.    Nearly 50 million among health and care workers, patient groups, members of civil society organisations, and individuals support World Health Organization’s call to world leaders and decision-makers to put an end to pollution and to ensure a future with clean air for all.    EPHA, along with all EU Healthy Air Coalition (EUHAC) member organisations has signed this call for action, with Dimitris Kontopidis, Chair of the European Lung Foundation, among the representatives who took the stage yesterday in Cartagena to present the call.   We, EUHAC members, invite you to join us in advocating for clean air! We call for bold action from governments, leaders and other decision-makers to realise the right to clean the air for all. We demand that they commit without delay to:     🔵 Enforcing measures to stop polluting the air;   🔵 Implementing WHO air quality guidelines;  🔵 Ensuring a just and inclusive clean energy transition and fossil fuel phase out; and  🔵 Increasing funding to elevate clean air as a priority on global and national health and political agendas.     🔗 Check out the call to action: https://lnkd.in/eZEctwwr ✍️️ Sign here: https://lnkd.in/eFQZwx9Y EUHAC members: Standing Committee of European Doctors (CPME) Association of European Cancer Leagues European Federation of Allergy and Airways Diseases Patients' Associations (EFA) European Lung Foundation European Public Health Alliance (EPHA) European Respiratory Society Health and Environment Alliance (HEAL) Independent Health Insurance Funds 

🚨According to the European Commission, European Cancer Information System, every year, more than 1.2 million women are diagnosed with #cancer in the European Union, with nearly 600,000 tragically losing their lives to the disease. Read the guest article by Marion L'hôte: 🔗 https://lnkd.in/etVJVicD ♀️ Women continue to face gender-related disparities that affect both their well-being and professional advancement. To address existing disparities and drive meaningful change, European Cancer Organisation presented five essential women’s cancer #rights — core principles that must guide future policymaking:      🔸 The Right to Access HPV Vaccination   🔸 The Right to Access Screening  🔸 The Right to Access Fertility Treatment   🔸 The Right to Recognition of Your Carer Rights   🔸 The Right to Fair and Equal Treatment in the Oncology Workforce 

❓Are you experienced in EU Health Policy Communications? 📣Are you ready to join our team and bring our advocacy to the next level? 🌟Then you could be our next communications manager!   We are seeking someone who can: 🔸Deliver strategic communications leadership within the EU health policy space 🔸Oversee digital & social media outreach 🔸Coordinate internally with the communications and policy teams Does this sound like you? Apply before April 22: https://lnkd.in/ecsHraTG Applications will be reviewed on a rolling basis, and interviews may be conducted as they come in. We encourage early applications, as the position may be filled before the final deadline. The successful candidate is expected to start as soon as possible.     #EUjobs #NGOjobs #BrusselsJobs #vacancy

📢 Read the latest issue of EPHA’s monthly #Newsletter - “Health in the roadmap for women’s rights”. 🔗 https://lnkd.in/ebBYYMSN ⚖️ The European Commission has set the 8 priorities of the Roadmap for Women’s Rights. #WomensHealth is prominently featured in the Commission’s approach to women’s rights and a gender-equal society. This shows that the collective efforts of a wide range of stakeholders on women’s health have paid off.    Even so, it is now our shared responsibility to turn them into concrete action, whether that means strengthening research and healthcare training, or empowering women and communities.    ⚕️ What is required now is to keep raising awareness and driving action to address structural injustices; injustices that exist in a health sphere that continues failing to see to the specific needs of women.    With contributions from: 🔸 European Liver Patients' Association - ELPA, 🔸 European Cancer Organisation, 🔸 Klimaka NGO, 🔸 Make Mothers Matter - MMM, 🔸 Inga Winkler, 🔸 Paula Blancarte Jaber, 🔸 Erica Selznick, MSPH, and 🔸 Andrea Ford, PhD

We are delighted to welcome OZ No Gravity as the latest member of EPHA! No Gravity's numerous activities include action relating to the environment, renewable energy, green transport, organic farming, and innovation in food safety and digital health. With expertise in air quality monitoring, safe food solutions for people with dietary restrictions, and health sector digitisation, their contributions will be invaluable across EPHA's policy clusters. We can't wait to begin our collaborations towards a healthier Europe for all 🌿 Find our more via their website: www.no-gravity.sk Gabriel Adamek

🌍 This week, global leaders and stakeholders are gathering in Cartagena, Colombia, for the Second World Health Organization Global Conference on Air Pollution and Health. Air pollution is a global health crisis, affecting billions and responsible for at least 7 million deaths annually. It damages every organ in the body and increases risks for respiratory and cardiovascular conditions, dementia, stillbirths, and preterm births. Our Policy Manager, Sara Bertucci, is attending the conference and contributed today to a pre-conference event hosted by the Health and Environment Alliance (HEAL), highlighting how the members of the EU Healthy Air Coalition successfully advocated for the adoption of the EU's revised clean air standards in 2024. These new standards bring EU air quality legislation closer to the WHO Air Quality Guidelines published in 2021. As we push for health-protective, science-based air quality legislation, it's clear that a unified health voice that emphasizes clean air as a critical public health investment can make all the difference in driving meaningful change.  👉 Follow the page for more information on the EU Healthy Air Coalition and the pre-conference event: https://lnkd.in/ebYuqCpJ   ✍️ If you haven't yet, join the global Call for Action urging governments and world leaders to commit to bold actions for clean air: https://lnkd.in/eFQZwx9Y