The general objective of the 7th EPH Conference is to strengthen the capacity of public health professionals, researchers and policy makers by enhancing the dissemination and exchange of knowledge, policy and best practice across Europe.

More specifically, the conference aims to:
- offer a platform for disseminating and exchanging knowledge, sharing research outcomes and discussing best practice at a European level;
-share new research methodologies and interventions in all fields of public health;
- create, support and promote close and active collaboration links among European public health networks, organisations and schools of public health;
-exchange and develop strategies to reduce health inequalities in Europe;
- increase knowledge and skills among representatives of member associations of EUPHA and European partners by the organisation of capacity building seminars;
- support the objectives of the EU Health Programme.

The theme for the 7th EPH Conference is ‘Mind the Gap - reducing health inequalities in health and healthcare in Europe’.

This theme was chosen so as to encourage exchange of knowledge and to promote discussion on how European countries cannot just promote the health of the public but also have to reduce inequalities in health and healthcare. Understanding the causes underlying inequities in health and discovering which interventions or policies may reduce inequalities, and under what circumstances, are critical for the promotion of population health for all countries. The current economic circumstances in many countries mean that it is more important than ever for researchers and policy makers to learn from the experiences of each other rather than ‘reinventing the wheel’.

The focus on inequalities in health, and the desire to ensure that the Conference moves research beyond traditional academic boundaries and into policy and practice in line with the Rio Declaration on Social Determinants of Health, is clearly reflected in the sub-themes which include:
1. Inequalities in the population: large scale interventions;
2. Equity across the European region: the European action plan for strengthening Public Health Services and Capacity;
3. Communicable and non-communicable diseases: old challenges, novel solutions;
4. Marginalised groups: migrant and ethnic minority health;
5. Looking to the future: translating evidence into policy.

EUPHA Sections and partner organisations cover priority issues such as health promotion, non-communicable diseases, health systems research, infectious diseases control, public health core competences and education in pre-conferences and in the parallel programme.

Both the plenary programme and the workshops of the parallel programme link up with the Health for Growth programme which aims to identify, disseminate and promote the uptake of cost-effective promotion and prevention measures. The conference offers a meeting place for various projects funded by the EU Health Programme, Research Programme and Cohesion Policy.

The conference contributes directly to increased knowledge and skills among representatives of member associations of EUPHA and European partners by the organisation of capacity building seminars. The conference continues to provide knowledge for evidence-based policy making while focusing on issues like innovation, sustainability and inequalities.






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Tobacco consumption is the single largest avoidable health risk in the EU. Having long acknowledged this threat, the EU was instrumental in designing and achieving consensus on the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC). The FCTC entered into force in 2005 and was ratified by the EU and its Member States. The Smoke Free Partnership (SFP) is the leading NGO in the EU advocating for FCTC implementation. Since its creation, SFP spearheaded high-profile campaigns across Europe to introduce effective and evidence-based smoking prevention measures. In 2014, SFP formalised its working partnerships by creating the Smoke Free Partnership Coalition. The overarching strategic goal of this proposal is to improve the health of EU citizens and reduce health inequalities by promoting smoking prevention at EU and Member State level with a special focus on young people. During this three year period, SFP set four strategic objectives: 1. Promote and support smoking prevention at EU and national level through the development of advocacy strategies that deliver specific EU tobacco control policies 2. Promote and support smoking prevention at international, European and national level through the development and implementation of the FCTC, its protocols and guidelines 3. Mobilise and strengthen the capacity of European and national civil society to complement, support and add value to the policies of the EU and of the Member States4. Strengthen SFP’s institutional capacity to enable it to meet its goal and objectivesThis proposal shows how the SFP Coalition will contribute to Objective 1 of the Health Programme as our work directly relates to health promotion, disease prevention and the fostering of supportive environments for healthy lifestyles. The outcomes of this proposal will complement, support and add value to EU and Member State policies which aim to improve the health of EU citizens and reduce health inequalities.
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For screening, the purpose is to create guidance based on the best available evidence and in accordance with current & new European quality assurance guidelines for cancer screening. It is becoming clear that in many areas of medicine, integration of services is essential in order to achieve optimal results using the available resources rationally. We will focus on the latter approach: how to move from the concept of a Comprehensive Cancer Center to a Comprehensive Cancer Care Network. A new challenge for health care policy is the shift from “how long” people live after diagnosis to “how well” people live from diagnosis onward; a European organizational framework will be developed to include a detailed list of recommendations to be tackled to address survivorship, rehabilitation & palliative care. In community-level care, improved community cancer care of populations through early cancer detection & provision of cancer pathways in primary care will be sought. These activities will be supplemented by discussion of MS on key cancer control topics in a platform for MS cooperation.
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The overall objective of the conference is to support capacity building and action in alcohol policy at the European, national, regional and municipal levels to invest in the health of Europe’s citizens.

The conference will aim at raising awareness among the key policy and decision makers of the current burden of alcohol in Europe and multiple health and social problems it creates. It will explore ways in which cost effective alcohol policies can contribute to creation of sustainable health system savings.

In addition, this conference will consider the synergies between the current works undertaken by both the European Commission (EC) and the World Health Organisation (WHO) with regards to chronic diseases and alcohol policy. For instance it will touch upon the implications of the adoption of the WHO Global Strategy to reduce Harmfull use of Alcohol, WHO Global Action Plan for the prevention and control of NCDs 2013-2020, the EU actions on chronic diseases as well as the EU Alcohol Strategy.

The conference will contribute to the development of the capacity of the EU community to respond to chronic disease, through addressing methods of better management and regulation of alcohol.

The conference will aim at presenting how tackling the issue of alcohol related harm through effective policies will offer measurable health system savings and enhance the growth and productivity agenda for Europe 2020.

The specific objectives of the conference are:
1. to place prevention and reduction of alcohol-related harm high on the political level, with conclusions of the conference that can feed into the political process on EU level (including the Italian and Latvian Council Presidency).
2. to spread the knowledge and scientific evidence in relation to alcohol policies;
3. to provide for advocacy development, networking, partnership building and exchange between participants
4. to develop conference recommendations especially in relation to cost- effectiveness of alcohol policies and potential health system savings
4. to support the need to take alcohol into account in developing policies in ALL policy areas
8. to profile ongoing and recent European Commission co-financed projects in the field of alcohol (AMPHORA,AAA Prevent,AlICE RAP,ODIN, Eyes on age, EWA, Let it hAPYN, Joint Action to support Member States in taking forward work on common priorities in line with the EU alcohol strategy )
9. to structure the conference program in a manner that would formulate the alcohol related harm discussions in a comprehensive method and link them into multiple policy areas, as well as portraying the cost and benefits of action or inaction (in terms of health expenditure, deaths etc)

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1. To increase the awareness of policy makers, that education and the everyday school life play a crucial role in promoting health and wellbeing and in ensuring equity in health. For this to be successful, commitment to strong political support of the health-promoting schools approach in Europe is needed.

2. To contribute to the further development, implementation and evaluation of effective strategies and policies concerning school-based health promotion in Europe.

3. To contribute to strengthening the evidence base and encourage knowledge building through exchange of research-based evidence as well as experience of good practice among politicians, health and education practitioners, researchers, non-governmental organizations, and youth organizations across Europe, in facilitating actions for the development of sustainable health investments among children and young people in the school setting.

4. To identify and discuss the links between school-based health promotion, development of citizenship competencies, child`s rights and health literacy of children and young people. Furthermore, to discuss how are these links related to improving early childhood education and care, and to addressing the problem of early school leaving.

5. To strengthen the commitment of the EU member states, the EEA countries and the Candidate countries to addressing inequities in health through better education, with a strong structural health promotion dimension focusing on health determinants, capabilities, social and cultural capital by putting these issues high on political and research agenda.

6. To contribute to supporting the European countries in developing effective strategies, policies, high quality research, as well as good practices on addressing inequity in health through school health promotion.
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