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Public health news from around the WHO European Region.
December 2024
In this issue you will find:
Mixed progress on tobacco control in the WHO European Region;
Alcohol playbook helps to resist false narratives around health policies;
COSI round 6 survey: post-COVID trends in childhood obesity;
New report on physical activity levels across the European Union;
World Stroke Day 2024: personal stories;
VIDEOS: NCD policy insights and country experience.
NEW DATA
Data for a healthier future: how countries can protect people from noncommunicable diseases
As we count down to the Fourth High-level Meeting of the UN General Assembly on the prevention and control of NCDs (noncommunicable diseases) in September 2025, the latest data from WHO shows that Denmark, Estonia, Norway and Sweden have succeeded in reducing premature mortality from NCDs, including cardiovascular disease, cancer, diabetes, and chronic respiratory illnesses.
But what are the NCD-focused policies that have made this progress possible?
WHO has introduced several policy actions aimed at accelerating countries’ progress towards reaching the NCD-related goals of the WHO European Programme of Work and the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDG), including target 3.4, which is a one-third reduction in premature NCD mortality by 2030 from 2010 levels.
NEW FACT SHEETS
New WHO/Europe fact sheets reveal mixed progress on tobacco control in the European Region
In a new series of fact sheets, WHO/Europe provides an in-depth look at how countries in the WHO European Region are progressing in their efforts to implement the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (WHO FCTC). The fact sheets are based on data from the 2023 WHO report on the global tobacco epidemic and reveal both successes and gaps in tobacco control in the WHO European Region. MORE HERE
Cheers or tears? WHO playbook exposes alcohol’s true cost to health
Alcohol consumption is draining economies in the WHO European Region, costing billions annually in health care, early deaths and lost productivity, as well as social harm. Harms from alcohol affect entire populations, impacting both individuals who consume alcohol and those who do not. In 2019 alcohol was responsible for almost 1 in every 3 injury deaths in the Region, 42% of all homicides, 37% of suicides and 35% of road deaths.
Despite this enormous social and financial burden, the true costs of alcohol are often obscured by profit-driven narratives. WHO/Europe has launched the Alcohol Policy Playbook, designed to help policy-makers navigate the ever-present debates around alcohol harms and alcohol policy with a view towards safeguarding public health. MORE HERE
Empowering public health advocates to navigate alcohol policy challenges: alcohol policy playbook
NEW FACT SHEET
Alcohol, health and policy response in the European Union in 2019
NEW CAMPAIGN
Redefine alcohol: WHO’s urgent call for Europe to rethink alcohol’s place in society
Alcohol accounts for nearly 1 in 11 deaths in the WHO European Region. The new campaign from the WHO Regional Office for Europe aims to change that.
Alcohol is linked to over 200 diseases, among them at least seven types of cancer, including breast and colon cancers. Alcohol is currently directly responsible for 8.8% – 1 in 11 – of total deaths in the European Region. Yet despite these serious health risks and damaging outcomes, less than half of Europeans are aware of the link between alcohol and cancer.
NEW FACT SHEET: COSI ROUND 6
New WHO/Europe fact sheet highlights worrying post-COVID trends in childhood obesity
The 2022–2024 findings presented in the new WHO/Europe fact sheet based on the 6th round of the WHO European Childhood Obesity Surveillance Initiative (COSI) reveal concerning trends in the prevalence of overweight and obesity among children aged 7–9 years across the WHO European Region.
In comparison to previous estimates, the vast majority of the participating countries weren’t able to reduce their overweight and obesity levels. In those countries where changes occurred, increases of obesity levels were more common than decreases. MORE HERE
NEW FACT SHEET
Disease-related malnutrition: WHO/Europe fact sheet highlights neglected challenge
WHO/Europe underscores the critical yet often overlooked issue of disease-related malnutrition in a new factsheet. Disease-related malnutrition can be caused by almost any acute or chronic disease, including noncommunicable diseases (NCDs).
According to the fact sheet, malnutrition affects 30–50% of hospitalized patients and poses a particular risk to vulnerable groups, including older adults and individuals with NCDs, like cancer or diabetes. To improve patient outcomes and reduce health-care costs, WHO/Europe urges countries to address this hidden condition. MORE HERE
WORLD STROKE DAY 2024
World Stroke Day: Stacie's and Andrea's stories
Strokes are often sudden and life-threatening events – but they can be prevented and treated. With the right prevention strategies, such as detecting and treating hypertension and addressing other risk factors, strokes can be avoided. For those who do experience a stroke, timely treatment and access to rehabilitation services can make all the difference.
Read the personal stories of Stacie and Andrea, two stroke survivors who found ways to reinvent their lives after their recovery.
NEW REPORT
New WHO report highlights progress and challenges in improving physical activity levels across the European Union
A new report from WHO/Europe, “Health-enhancing physical activity in the European Union, 2024” shows that there has been increase in policy actions to increase physical activity in EU Member States. At the same time, around 1/3 adults are still physically inactive globally and more needs to be done.
Specific policies and programmes that enable all to be physically active as part of daily life are needed to meet the target of a 15% reduction in physical activity by 2030. MORE HERE
The WHO/Europe report highlights that there is a need for more investment and political commitment to achieve global health targets by 2030, including UN Sustainable Development Goal 3.4 – to reduce by one third premature mortality from NCDs.
COUNTRY EXPERIENCE: VIDEO
💬“We appreciate that physical activity has multiple physical and mental health benefits”
Colm Burke, Minister of State at the Department of Health of Ireland explains the country’s main policy approach towards increasing physical activity that provides economic, social and environmental benefits.
Fighting breast cancer: how Diana found hope and became a voice for others
In early 2024, Diana could not have imagined that her Instagram account, once filled with travel and fashion photos, would soon tell her personal story of battling breast cancer. Today, Diana, a 30-year-old mother of 2 living in Tashkent, Uzbekistan, is adjusting to her new life as a cancer awareness advocate who is living with a disease that challenges both her body and her spirit.
COUNTRY EXPERIENCE
Marking a milestone in diabetes care in Kyrgyzstan
The WHO–World Diabetes Foundation project in Kyrgyzstan, launched to address the country’s rising burden of diabetes and its complications, concludes its 3-year phase having trained over 200 health-care workers and 119 nurses. The initiative has equipped them with specialized skills to deliver improved, person-centred care, and has supplied essential equipment including fundus cameras, ophthalmoscopes and glucose monitors to health facilities across the country.
PERSONAL STORIES
“I felt heard” – tailored care as opposed to textbook care for diabetes
Jean Langford is a diabetes advocate from Ireland who is also training to be a dietitian. Now a member of the International Diabetes Federation Europe’s YOURAH network, she was diagnosed with diabetes at age 11. Her family knew the seriousness of diabetes only too well, as her grandfather and her uncle had lived with the disease. For them, life had involved a strict and inflexible regime without the technology and treatments available today.
“The best treatment for someone with type 2 diabetes is motivating them; walk in their shoes”
Erik was 38 when he was diagnosed with type 2 diabetes. He is a very active person with a demanding job as a manager, responsible for compliance, human resources and risk assessment, and the news came as a shock. “I knew I had to change my lifestyle, and I feared I would miss out on activities that make my life enjoyable,” he says.
