No images? Click here
Public health news from around the WHO European Region.
News highlights
July 2023
Clean air + green planet = good health for all
05-07-2023
Countries across Europe and central Asia take action to stop 1.4 million preventable deaths every year from climate change and pollution
Each year, across the 53-country WHO European Region, an estimated 1.4 million deaths are linked to environmental risk factors, such as pollution and climate change. This week, European ministers of environment and health will commit to taking urgent actions to reduce that staggering toll, and safeguarding our survival on this planet. Countries meeting at the Seventh Ministerial Conference on Environment and Health in Budapest, 5–7 July, are expected to adopt a declaration with a specific set of actions to better prepare health systems to tackle the impact of climate change, reduce the health effects of pollution, and integrate nature and biodiversity considerations into environment and health policies, which means taking a holistic approach to human, animal and planetary health.
73rd session of the WHO Regional Committee for Europe
24–26 October 2023, Astana, Kazakhstan
In 2023, WHO marks its 75th anniversary, 45 years since the signing of the historic Alma-Ata Declaration on primary health care (PHC), and the mid-point of the European Programme of Work (EPW) 2020–2025 – “United Action for Better Health in Europe”. RC73 will therefore be an opportunity for delegates to reflect on the current state of health and well-being across the Region, take stock of progress in delivering the EPW, celebrate public health milestones over the past 75 years, and discuss what is needed to address current and future challenges.
UKRAINE EMERGENCY
Ukraine is investing in healthier futures for its families and children. As part of a comprehensive approach to improving health, including recent efforts to implement a ban on foods high in trans fats within the country, the WHO Country Office of Ukraine and the WHO/Europe Special Initiative for NCDs and Innovation (SNI), in coordination with the Ministry of Health of Ukraine (MoH), are building capacity in the areas of healthy nutrition and tobacco control. Noncommunicable diseases (NCDs) remain the major health challenge in every country of the WHO European Region – this is true even in emergencies, including long-lasting military conflicts and wars. In the Region, NCDs, including cardiovascular diseases, cancer, chronic respiratory diseases and diabetes, cause around 90% of all deaths. NCDs are tightly connected to common risk factors: unhealthy diets, physical inactivity, and tobacco and alcohol use are risk factors.
Early success in health system recovery in Ukraine, new WHO report highlights
21-06-2023
New WHO report outlines concrete steps to make health care more accessible for people in Ukraine
15-06-2023
Building capacity on syndromic surveillance systems in Ukraine
14-06-2023
Ukraine: new data shed light on wartime health-care service disruptions
14-06-2023
2022-23 Mpox (Monkeypox) Outbreak: Global Trends
27-06-2023
Multi-country outbreak of mpox, External situation report #25 – 24 June 2023
24-06-2023
COVID-19
A new era for respiratory pathogen pandemic preparedness
28-06-2023
Pandemic adversely affected the relationships and health of Hungarian adolescents, new data show
27-06-2023
Increasing Recognition, Research and Rehabilitation for Post COVID-19 Condition (long COVID)
Publications and technical guidance
Publications, country and technical guidance for the COVID-19 outbreak
28-06-2023
The COVID-19 pandemic has had a disproportionately negative impact on children and adolescents from lower socioeconomic backgrounds, those who faced prolonged school closures, and those lacking essential support structures such as family and teachers, according to new data published today by WHO/Europe and the Health Behaviour in School-aged Children (HBSC) study. The data also highlight that, on average and across various indicators, older schoolgirls have experienced the pandemic's effects more than younger boys, with a marked impact on their mental health. This disparity underscores the need for targeted interventions and support systems to mitigate the longer-term consequences for vulnerable groups within our youth population.
Standardized package of community-based support services to improve tuberculosis outcomes
04-07-2023
Reducing alcohol consumption, the Nordic way: alcohol monopolies, marketing bans and higher taxation
30-06-2023
WHO/Europe and partners pave the way for a new stage in hospital care
23-06-2023
New WHO AI tool invites people to counter online promotion of unhealthy products
23-06-2023
New global resolution calls for establishment of behavioural science units or teams
20-06-2023
WHO/Europe explores collaborations to improve quality of health information online
16-06-2023
27-06-2023
This summer will be the first in more than 3 years that many of us will enjoy without the looming threat of COVID-19. Whilst it may not be a global public health emergency, COVID-19 has not gone away. Close to 1000 new COVID-19 deaths continue to occur across the Region every week, and this is an underestimate due to a drop in countries regularly reporting COVID-19 deaths to WHO. And it continues to disproportionately affect the weakest and the most vulnerable. COVID-19 exploited an epidemic of diseases, including cancers, cardiovascular disease, diabetes, and chronic lung illnesses, which account for 75% of mortality in our region today. Those with such underlying conditions were, and still are, far more vulnerable to severe forms of COVID-19. Read the full article
21-06-2023
The number of private health service providers (PHSPs) has surged by 43% since 2020, according to a new WHO report on private provision of health services in Ukraine, and accounts for 84% of all providers that are licensed. However, PHSPs are much smaller than state and communal health facilities that still offer the bulk of health services to the population. In order to sustain access to health care and advance universal health coverage in Ukraine, the Government needs to align the roles and functions of PHSPs within the national health system.
A new era of partnership and exchange between WHO/Europe and Greenland
04-07-2023
New study points to solutions for quitting tobacco in North Macedonia
23-06-2023
Crisis communication must involve communities, WHO training emphasizes
21-06-2023
EVENTS
Eliminating mpox: Placing affected populations at the heart of our response
17 May – 30 September 2023
Second WHO Symposium on the Future of Digital Health Systems in the European Region
5 – 6 September 2023 Porto, Portugal
Summer school in Nice, France: A systems approach to the promotion of healthy lifestyles for healthy ageing across the life course
18 – 20 July 2023, Nice, France
Webinar: Alcohol and cancer
12 July 2023,online
