WHO/Europe monthly newsletter, with public health news and events highlights from around the WHO European Region.
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Public health news from around the WHO European Region.
News highlights
August 2025
The EPW2 is a guiding framework for the WHO Regional Office for Europe and the Member States of the WHO European Region to advance health for the almost 1 billion people living here. It builds on the solid progress of the first EPW (2020—2025) with a new five-year regional mandate. Read more
TOP STORIES
16 July 2025
Transforming mental health services – that is, making them more focused on a person’s recovery – isn’t only about accessing extra resources or new technologies. It’s about something more human: acknowledging and including the expertise of people who have lived with mental health challenges. This is the premise behind WHO/Europe’s powerful new roadmap, “Transforming mental health through lived experience”, launched on 30 June to an audience of nearly 400 from across the globe.
The roadmap – the first of its kind in scope and scale – is co-designed by people who have lived with or are living with mental health challenges, along with their family members, as well as Mental Health Europe and Ireland’s Department of Health and Health Service Executive.
1 September 2025
The second of 3 virtual hearings of the Pan-European Commission on Climate and Health will focus on the opportunities and health co-benefits of creating a better future for both present and future generations.
Read more
04-07-2025
More than 3 years of full-scale war has had a profound impact on the health system in Ukraine. The damage to critical infrastructure and disruptions to service availability have been particularly significant in areas close to the front line. Read more
Continuity of care: European Union and WHO install modular health facilities in Ukraine
04-07-2025
16-07-2025
The European Junior Doctors’ (EJD) Association – a non-state actor in official relations with WHO – has just adopted a new “Policy on Workforce Led Optimization of Healthcare Systems”. WHO/Europe welcomes this important development, which marks a pivotal step towards equipping Europe’s health systems with the tools they need to meet evolving population and workforce demands. Read more
Childhood vaccination rates lag in Europe – fueling further resurgence of measles and whooping cough
15-07-2025
New WHO report pushes for stronger tobacco control policies
04-07-2025
European WHO collaborating centres sign global open letter of support for WHO
02-07-2025
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Health can't wait. Your Support Saves Lives Today.
Regional Director, Dr Hans Henri P. Kluge.
“My dream is that of a society where no one is left behind. A WHO European Region where health is taken into account in major government policies to enable all people of all ages to live healthy lives. A Region where people-centred and sustainable public health and health-care services are available to all people.”
Read more
COUNTRIES
28-07-2025
Kazakhstan has joined 9 other Member States of the WHO European Region in reaching the 2025 Global Monitoring Framework target of reducing premature noncommunicable diseases (NCDs) mortality by 25% – becoming the first central Asian country to achieve this milestone. A new report by WHO/Europe highlights the country’s experience while providing new data on NCDs across the Region.
The report, “Avoidable mortality, risk factors and policies for tackling noncommunicable diseases – leveraging data for impact”, explores the policies and strategies that have enabled Kazakhstan to strengthen its national health system – particularly in the areas of cardiovascular disease and cancer. Through a focus on prevention, early detection, improved treatment and higher survival rates, Kazakhstan is setting an example in the Region for tackling 2 of the most pressing threats to people’s health. Read more
WHO backs school-based centre for children and families’ mental health in North Macedonia
04-07-2025
New WHO report guides primary health care financing reforms in Tajikistan
02-07-2025
3 September 2025 - 10:00 - 11:00 CEST, Online
The third webinar in the WHO/Europe and International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) alcohol and cancer series will explore how limiting the availability of alcohol through restrictions on locations, hours and days of sale can help reduce overall consumption and alcohol-related harm. Policies such as limiting retail hours, regulating outlet density and enforcing age restrictions have been shown to influence drinking patterns, particularly among young people. Read more
Third hearing of the Pan-European Commission on Climate and Health
2 October 2025 - 09:00–12:00 CEST, Zoom
Webinar: Marketing bans – the role of advertising in alcohol consumption
24 September 2025 - 15:00–16:00 CEST, Online
39th meeting of the European Regional Commission for Certification of Poliomyelitis Eradication
23 – 24 September - 2025 Copenhagen, Denmark
16th conference of the European network for the promotion of health-enhancing physical activity (HEPA Europe)
17 – 19 September 2025 - Kaunas, Lithuania
