TOB-G project aims to develop and implement an innovative and cost effective approach to prevent chronic diseases related to tobacco dependence. The specialized guidelines for high risks groups will be developed according to ENSP’s evidence based and good practices in tobacco cessation and with ERS TCC scientific material on smoking health hazards. High risk populations are considered those who suffer from cardiovascular diseases, COPD, type 2 diabetes, adolescents & pregnant women.The developed guidelines will contain strategies and recommendations designed to assist health professionals in delivering and supporting effective treatment of dependence on tobacco. Recommendations will be made as a result of scientific reviews and evidence of good practices from scientific groups that will consist of health professionals of different expertise. To monitor the quality of the approach a pilot implementation of the tobacco cessation will be conducting for each group. The assessment of the effectiveness of the tobacco cessation guidelines will be the primary aim of the scientific groups and will be measured by the number of people quitting smoking after the pilot implementation. Since the tobacco cessation guidelines will be addressed to health professionals, the partnership will develop and implement an e-learning training for guidelines use.The project fits perfectly the objectives and priorities of the 3rd Health Programme, as it will assist health professionals to provide guidance and targeted prevention to high risk populations engaged to the unfavourable lifestyle of smoking. Training primary care physicians addresses the lack of specialist doctors in EU and increases access to tobacco cessation specialists. TOB-G project will enhance the overall European capacity in the treatment of tobacco dependence, thus, in the prevention of chronic diseases, through offering smoking cessation tools, appropriately assessed and fitted to the specific needs of high risk groups.


Europe is paying a heavy price for chronic diseases (CD): it has been estimated that CD cost EU economies 115 billion € or 0.8% of GDP annually; and this figure does not include the additional loss in terms of lower employment rates and productivity of people living with chronic health problems. However, the aspiration is a health-promoting Europe, free of preventable CD, premature death and avoidable disability could be possible. Initiatives on CD should build on four cornerstones: health promotion and primary prevention as a way to reduce the burden of CD; patient empowerment; tackling functional decline and quality of life as the main consequences of CD, and making health systems sustainable and responsive to the aging of our populations associated with the epidemiological transition (an increase in incidence of CD and extended life expectancy) whose consequence is an increasing prevalence of CD. In this Joint Action, CHRODIS-PLUS, our goal is to support Member States through cross-national initiatives identified in JA-CHRODIS to reduce the burden of CD, while assuring health systems sustainability and responsiveness. CHRODIS-PLUS aims to promote the implementation of policies and practices with demonstrated success in each of the four cornerstones mentioned, in closely monitored implementation experiences that can be validated before scaling them up. For this, a total of 42 beneficiaries representing 20 European countries will collaborate to implement pilots and generate practical lessons that could contribute to the uptake and use of CHRODIS-PLUS results. Practices to be implemented will be based on the collection of policies, strategies and interventions that started in JA-CHRODIS and in its outputs such as the Integrated Multimorbidity Care Model or the Recommendations for Diabetes Quality criteria or national plans. During the 36-month life CHRODIS-PLUS will disseminate its activities and monitor and evaluate them to verify the progress and impact of the action. CHRODIS-PLUS will look for synergies with international/regional/local policy initiatives in CD. CHRODIS-PLUS will count on the Governing Board of representatives from European Ministries of Health, key to CHRODIS-PLUS development and sustainability, an Executive Board and a General Assembly where all associated partners will gather. A proposal for the EU added value of cross-country collaboration in the field of CD and the sustainability of the results from JA-CHRODIS and CHRODIS-PLUS beyond 2020, when this project ends, will be approved.


The aim of this proposal is to submit proposal for two presidency conferences organized under the auspices of the Slovakian Presidency to the Council of the European Union. The Presidency conferences are to be partly financed under the work programme 2016. There are two conferences to be followed in this proposal: (1) a conference on ‘Prevention of chronic non-communicable diseases and healthy lifestyles’ and (2) a conference on ‘Alzheimer’s disease - the epidemic of the third millennium. Are we ready to face it’?

(1) ‘Prevention of chronic non-communicable diseases and healthy lifestyles’
The conference will focus on the impact of the reduction and elimination of risk factors causing non-communicable disease and support the EU aims in the area of chronic diseases mitigation.
The objective is to point to the issue of non-communicable chronic diseases and healthy lifestyle and to nourish the discussion to foster the topic on the European level.

(2) ‘Alzheimer’s disease - the epidemic of the third millennium. Are we ready to face it?
The aim is to promote research, prevention, early diagnosis and treatment of dementia. Our aim also is to strengthen the coordination within Member states of relevant policies in the field of dementia and discuss development of the future steps in the area of dementia.



EuroHealthNet is a leading Partnership bringing together organisations, agencies and statutory bodies to contribute to our common mission of improving health and tackling health inequalities between and within European States.
Health inequalities are unfair and have a huge economic and social costs. Support from the 3rd Health Programme will enable EuroHealthNet to contribute: (1) to reducing health inequalities in Europe, by encouraging countries to act, through consolidated action on the social determinants of health, with a particular focus on children and young people; (2) to reducing the burden of chronic diseases and improving mental health and well-being; (3) to contribute to more innovative, sustainable and equitable health system, by strengthening the role of promotion and disease prevention; and (4) to achieving a high quality and effective European Partnership for improving health equity and well-being.

EuroHealthNet will realise these objectives through cross-cutting work in our three Platforms and through our core services:
POLICY: we monitor, analyse and influence policy at EU and national level and across sectors. We provide guidance to the Partnership about EU policies and vice versa.
PRACTICE: we build capacity and share knowledge among members and associates so that they can learn from and inspire one another, reinforce resources, shape initiatives and implement more ‘state of the art’ approaches in the relevant areas.
RESEARCH: we build the evidence base for effective policies and practices and share the latest evidence with researchers, policy makers and practitioners.
Our core services, which involve our highly effective communication activities, the coordination of Thematic Working Groups (TWIGs), membership development, administration and evaluation, reinforce our work. Our 2018-21 work programme, which focuses on one strategic objective per year, directly contributes to 3/4ths of the objectives of the 3rd Health Programme.


Main objectives: The three main objectives of the proposal are: prevent avoidable cardiovascular diseases (CVD); strengthen the support for people with CVD; and reinforce cardiovascular research.

How to achieve: The whole population needs to be addressed as well as those at high risk of and those already living with CVD. Therefore, the proposal’s intervention logic is to target policy makers, especially at EU level, to effect changes in policies to achieve small reductions in risk factors across EU’s population of about 500 million, and thus reducing the overall number of people at risk of CVD. The intervention logic, with respect to individuals at high risk for CVD and those already living with it, is to enhance member organisations’ capacity to support patients and fund optimal research. Activities to underpin the intervention logic include a) effective dissemination to EU policy makers of evidence for action (advocacy); b) training and exchange meetings for member organisations (capacity-building and knowledge-sharing); and c) strategic interaction with stakeholders (cooperation/engagement with alliances).

Relevance to the work programme: Two priority areas of the 2017 work programme are: 1) prevention and health determinants; 2) chronic diseases. The proposal’s activities address these head on. CVD make up a substantial part of the chronic disease burden accounting for 19% of all DALYs (on a par with cancer). Tackling CVD is essential for the EU and its member states to achieve international targets on chronic diseases, i.e. a 25% reduction in premature mortality from non-communicable diseases by 2025; and to reduce premature mortality from NCDs by one third by 2030 (Sustainable Development Goals, Goal 3). The proposal’s activities focus strongly on promoting cost-effective promotion and prevention measures in line, in particular, with the EU strategy on diet and nutrition. The proposal is highly relevant to third health programme’s thematic priorities
