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The EU Response to COVID-19: From Reactive Policies to Strategic Decision-Making.

When developing accessible, affordable and effective mental health systems, exchange of data between countries is an important moving force towards better mental health care. Unfortunately, health information systems in most countries are weak in the field of mental health, and comparability of data is low. Special international data collection exercises, such as the World Health Organization (WHO) Atlas Project and the WHO Baseline Project have provided valuable insights in the state of mental health systems in countries, but such single-standing data collections are not sustainable solutions. Improvements in routine data collection are urgently needed. The European Commission has initiated major improvements to ensure harmonized and comprehensive health data collection, by introducing the European Community Health Indicators set and the European Health Interview Survey. However, both of these initiatives lack strength in the field of mental health. The neglect of the need for relevant and valid comparable data on mental health systems is in conflict with the importance of mental health for European countries and the objectives of the 'Europe 2020' strategy. The need for valid and comparable mental health services data is today addressed only by single initiatives, such as the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development work to establish quality indicators for mental health care. Real leadership in developing harmonized mental health data across Europe is lacking. A European Mental Health Observatory is urgently needed to lead development and implementation of monitoring of mental health and mental health service provision in Europe.

"Scrivener, Christiane, (born 1 Sept. 1925), Commandeur de la Légion d’Honneur, 2001 (Officier, 1995); Médiateur, Société Générale, since 1996; Member, Commission of the European Communities, 1989–95" published on by Oxford University Press.

Many Health Information Activities related to nutrition and physical activity have been initiated during the past years by several institutions on the national and international level as well as by several European networks. A multitude of projects with different scopes and methodologies has arisen. This variety makes it necessary to bring the results of these activities into a coordinated framework. The report aims to give a structured overview on the availability of routine repeated or repeatable data on the health determinants nutrition and physical activity in European countries. An Inventory of Health Information Activities on physical activity and nutrition was built up, which summarises activities carried out by the European Commission, the WHO, various European Networks, as well as national examples. The Health Information Activities collected as national examples assess data for all countries belonging to the European Union up to 2006, the European Economic Area (EEA) and all Candidate countries. The Inventory considers activities which started in 1990 or later, which were still running or have been approved but not yet started. The report analyses institutional structures (WHO, European Commission, European Networks) as well as examples of health information activities at the national level. A network of European public health professionals identified available national health information activities and survey data, which were summarised in a structured online database. The results section presents activities in the field of health information on physical activity and nutrition of the European Commission (DG Sanco), the World Health Organisation (Europe) and various European networks. Furthermore, this section presents the analysis of the database which summarises health information activities in European countries. The database is freely accessible at the website of the Working Party. Additionally, the supplement provides a summary of Health Information Activities for each country in Country Profile Sheets. The report provides a general overview on Health Information Activities related to physical activity and nutrition as well as a state-of-the-art investigation about available data in European countries. The concluding section of the report aims to recommend future Health Information actions which outline open issues.

At the time that the European Commission has been preparing its own strategy on alcohol to cover the full range of activity that takes place at a European level, it called for an analysis of the he...

Click to increase image sizeClick to decrease image size Acknowledgements The editors would like to thank the architects of the CINEFOGO network of excellence (‘Civil Society and New Forms of Governance in Europe’)—and in particular Thomas Bøje at the University of Roskilde—for supporting the work programme which underpins this special issue. CINEFOGO was funded by the European Union under the Sixth Research Framework. Notes 1. L. M. Salamon, The Tools of Governance (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2002). 2. Respectively, see J. Cohen and A. Arato, Civil Society and Political Theory (Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 1992); D. Billis, Hybrid Organisations and the Third Sector: Challenges for Practice, Theory and Policy (Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan, 2010); and L. Tragardh, this issue. 3. For example, see Jennifer Wolch, The Shadow State (New York: Foundation Center, 1990); H. Tam, Communitarianism (Basingstoke: Macmillan, 1998); H. K. Anheier et al., ‘No numbers, no policies? Can Eurostat count the cost of the nonprofit sector?’, in J. Kendall (Ed.) Researching the Voluntary Sector (West Malling: Charities Aid Foundation, 1993). 4. M. Taylor, Public Policy in the Community (Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan, 2002). 5. For example, compare M. Kaldor, Global Civil Society: An Answer to War? (Cambridge: Polity Press, 2003); R. D. Lipschutz, ‘Power, politics and global civil society’, Millennium, 33(3) (2005), pp. 747–769. A useful contribution which begins to bring out ideological themes much more explicitly, but at quite a high level of generality, in R. Germain and M. Kenny (Eds) The Idea of Global Civil Society: Politics and Ethics in a Globalizing Era (London: Routledge, 2005). For a useful recent overview, see K. Kumar, ‘Civil society, globalisation and global civil society’, Journal of Civil Society, 4(1) (2008), pp. 15–30. 6. Michael Freeden, Ideology: A Very Short Introduction (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2003). 7. Lester M. Salamon and Helmut K. Anheier, Defining the Nonprofit Sector: An International Analysis (Manchester: Manchester University Press, 1997); European Commission, Communication on the Role of Associations and Foundations in Europe (Brussels: European Commission, 1997). 8. J. Kendall, Political ideologies and the third sector: Draft scoping paper for interested parties in CINEFOGO workpackage, unpublished manuscript (University of Kent at Canterbury, 2006); for more on the supporting activities, the CINEFOGO network database (http://cinefogo.cuni.cz/) can be utilized.

World Health Organization (WHO) published its 22nd edition of WHO Model List of Essential Medicines in 2021. This list presents a list of minimum medications needed for a basic health care system. Their criteria for such a list included the most effective, safe, and cost-effective medicines for priority conditions (with current and estimated future public health relevance).1 Their section on antiseizure medications (ASMs) has not changed compared with the previous edition. Updating this list is especially relevant now, as the WHO Intersectoral Global Action Plan on Epilepsy and other Neurological Disorders (IGAP), unanimously adopted at the 75th World Health Assembly in May 2022, declared that “Essential medicines have a crucial role for both the prevention and treatment of neurological disorders” and recommended the Member States to “promote the inclusion, updating and availability of essential, effective, safe, affordable and quality medicines and health products for neurological disorders in national essential medicines lists, as guided by the WHO Model List of Essential Medicines.”2 For ASMs (called "anticonvulsants/antiepileptics" in their publication), they included the following drugs as the “essential medicines”: carbamazepine, diazepam, lamotrigine, lorazepam, magnesium sulfate, midazolam, phenobarbital, phenytoin, and valproic acid (sodium valproate). They also included ethosuximide and valproic acid (sodium valproate) injection on a “Complementary List.”1 Here, we have tried to critically reappraise this list and make suggestions to improve such a list in the future. In doing so, we have tried to make suggestions based on the efficacy, safety, and other drug-related issues of the available ASMs. Based on the currently available evidence,3-8 one can conclude that levetiracetam is a reasonable alternative to both carbamazepine and phenytoin for patients with epileptic seizures in different age groups.4-6 Levetiracetam is associated with fewer drug–drug interactions compared with both carbamazepine and phenytoin. Furthermore, levetiracetam has oral and intravenous formulations and is not a hepatic enzyme-inducer drug with all the associated consequences (e.g., hyperlipidemia).9, 10 Therefore, it seems a reasonable approach to revise the WHO Model List of Essential Medicines accordingly and to include levetiracetam on the list. One can argue that levetiracetam is not widely available or cost-effective everywhere in the world. However, based on the WHO criteria for such a list (i.e., most effective, safe, and cost-effective drugs), levetiracetam is a reasonable alternative to carbamazepine and phenytoin. Therefore, while older ASMs definitely need to be included on the list (considering their availability and cost), it would be ideal to add levetiracetam to the list. The authorities in WHO and other international organizations (e.g., International League Against Epilepsy and International Bureau for Epilepsy) should educate and convince health policy makers and governments in all the countries in the world that they should provide the minimum requirements of “essential medicines” for their people. As highlighted in the IGAP document, there is a need to reduce stigma and promote the human rights of people with neurological disorders (e.g., epilepsy), and improve their care and quality of life in a way that no person's life is limited by epilepsy.2 Having said the above, a recent study compared the clinical effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of lamotrigine with levetiracetam and zonisamide (new treatment) for focal epilepsy, and compared valproate with levetiracetam (new treatment) for generalized and unclassified epilepsy.11 In focal epilepsy, levetiracetam did not meet the criteria for noninferiority in the primary intention-to-treat analysis of time to 12-month remission, but zonisamide met such criteria. For time to treatment failure, lamotrigine was superior to levetiracetam and zonisamide. In the economic analyses, both levetiracetam and zonisamide were more expensive and less effective than lamotrigine. In generalized and unclassifiable epilepsy, levetiracetam did not meet the criteria for noninferiority in the primary intention-to-treat analysis of time to 12-month remission. Valproate was superior to levetiracetam for time to treatment failure. Levetiracetam was both more expensive and less effective than valproate.11 Therefore, it is noteworthy to clarify that while the authors recommend adding levetiracetam (at this time) to the WHO list of essential medicines, other candidate drugs (e.g., zonisamide) could also be considered in the future. A.A.A.-P.: honoraria from Cobel Daruo, Ronak, and RaymandRad; royalty from Oxford University Press (book publication); grant from the National Institute for Medical Research Development. A.G.: none.

Is Africa prepared for tackling the COVID-19 (SARS-CoV-2) epidemic. Lessons from past outbreaks, ongoing pan-African public health efforts, and implications for the future

We Are All Ballooning: Multimedia Critical Discourse Analysis of ‘Measure Up’ and ‘Swap It, Don’t Stop It’ Social Marketing Campaigns

AddictionVolume 100, Issue 3 p. 418-418 Free Access PRIZE FOR BOOK ON ALCOHOL AND PUBLIC POLICY First published: 12 October 2005 https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1360-0443.2005.01060_1.xAboutSectionsPDF ToolsRequest permissionExport citationAdd to favoritesTrack citation ShareShare Give accessShare full text accessShare full-text accessPlease review our Terms and Conditions of Use and check box below to share full-text version of article.I have read and accept the Wiley Online Library Terms and Conditions of UseShareable LinkUse the link below to share a full-text version of this article with your friends and colleagues. Learn more.Copy URL Share a linkShare onFacebookTwitterLinkedInRedditWechat The book, Alcohol: No Ordinary Commodity, has won first prize in the public health category of the British Medical Association's medical book awards for 2004. To quote the BMA's citation, the book is the third in a series of authoritative reviews written by acknowledged experts in the field of alcohol policy. The book was put together by an international group of authors, the Alcohol and Public Policy Group. To date, it has sold more than 1700 copies. It has been translated into German and Portuguese (translations into Swedish and Spanish are in course of preparation). Several book chapters and summaries have been published in English and a summary has been made in Norwegian. The book has been taken up as a source reference for policy recommendations and initiatives at WHO headquarters and regional offices, and has been the subject of legislative seminars and policy conferences throughout Europe and in Australia. The BMA book awards, now in their tenth year, are intended ‘to encourage and to reward excellence in medical publishing’. Prizes are given in a number of medical categories. Of the 524 books submitted by medical and scientific publishers, 39 were reviewed in the public health category, and were judged in terms of accuracy, currency, originality, production quality and whether the book meets the needs of its audience. The BMA's reviewer praised Alcohol: No Ordinary Commodity for being ‘extremely clearly written’ and ‘seamlessly integrated’ despite its 16 authors. References Babor, T., Caetano, R., Casswell, S., Edwards, G., Giesbrecht, N., Graham, K., Grube, J., Grunewald, P., Hill, L., Holder, H., Homel, R., Osterberg, E., Rehm, J., Room, R. & Rossow, I.(2003) Alcohol: No Ordinary Commodity—Research and Public Policy. Oxford and New York: Oxford University Press. Volume100, Issue3March 2005Pages 418-418 ReferencesRelatedInformation

Research background. Alcohol consumption and behaviour related to it is a widely discussed topic. World Health Organization (WHO) reports 2.5 million annual deaths caused by the harmful use of alcohol. The use of alcohol puts risk on just on the individual level, but compromises the well-being of the society. Although a variety of researches focuses exclusively on teenagers, student and adolescence alcohol use issues (Deshpande, Rundle-Thiele, 2011; Sancho et al., 2011; Varela, Pritchard, 2011; Marcoux, Shope, 1997; Burns et al., 1993) the investigation in to relation between health consciousness, attitudes toward alcohol advertising and alcohol drinkers and their effect on adult alcohol purchase intention is scarce. The object of the research is to examining adult alcohol purchase intention phenomenon influenced by individual’s health consciousness, attitude toward advertising, and attitude toward drinkers Methods. The data for this research was collected on December, 2013. A total of 388 filled questionnaires were collected to perform the research. Structural equation modelling (Lisrel 9.1) tools were used to test the proposed hypotheses. Results. The findings reveal that health consciousness and attitude toward alcohol advertising have a significant negative effect on alcohol purchase intention among adult population, while attitude toward alcohol drinkers indicates significant positive effect. Conclusions. Adult alcohol purchase intention is a complex phenomenon influenced by both of social and personal determinants. This research paper revealed that consumer’s inner characteristics those of health consciousness, attitudes toward alcohol advertising and alcohol drinkers have an effect on adult’s alcohol purchase intention. Conclusively, these finding could be ultimately used while seeking the reduction of alcohol amounts consumed. Keywords: alcohol, health-consciousness, attitudes toward alcohol advertising, attitudes toward drinkers.

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WKS 22: Building resilience: enhancing healthcare access for displaced populations, B309 (FCSH), September 4, 2025, 16:00 - 17:00Rationale and PurposeThis workshop examined key aspects of a coordinated health response to improve access to healthcare for refugees and individuals displaced from Ukraine under the EU Temporary Protection Directive (TPD)1. It highlighted both achievements and challenges encountered across the operationalization of the directive, within the framework of the joint EU4Health action: “Improving access to healthcare for refugees and people displaced from Ukraine benefitting of temporary protection in Member States” managed by the European Commission (EC), the World Health Organization (WHO), and the International Organization for Migration (IOM), and implemented in 10 European countries. 2Methods/Process of WorkshopThe session brought together institutional and field-level perspectives from EC, Ministry of Health of Czechia, NGO Equita, WHO and IOM, who shared their expertise, policy perspectives and experiences aimed at improving and promoting access to healthcare for all. Discussions focused on key themes including health workforce capacity, service accessibility and integration, viewed through the lens of resilience across diverse national contexts.Projected Learning OutcomesThe lessons learned disseminated were on the EU, WHO, and IOM unprecedented partnership to strengthen health systems in refugee-receiving countries and achieve the best health outcomes for host populations, and refugees and displaced people from Ukraine. At national and local levels, this partnership promoted identifying and tackling the barriers that hinder refugees’ and displaced people’s access to health services; while simultaneously, strengthening the capacity of health systems to meet the needs of displaced communities.

"Špidla, Dr Vladimír, (born 22 April 1951), Member, European Commission, 2004–10; Director, Department of Advisers and Adviser to Prime Minister of Czech Republic, 2014–17" published on by Oxford University Press.