HAI Europe contributes to European Union (EU) policy that promotes universal and equitable access to affordable needed medicines of assured quality and policy and practice that ensures those medicines are used rationally. HAI Europe’s work plan 2015-2017 is dedicated to identify, monitor and support EU policies that provide a response to persistent shortfalls in access to medicines and that are aligned with HAI’s overarching goals on Access to Needed Medicines, Rational Use of Medicines and Democratisation of Medicines Policy in Europe. HAI will work towards these goals through research, evidence-based policy analysis and intervention, training and information sharing. As a result, HAI will advocate for citizen-centred public health policies that address health challenges in the EU and health inequity both within and between EU member states. HAI Europe’s multi-annual programme addresses the objectives of the Third Health Programme and contributes to EU added-value by supporting medicines policies that have the potential to maximise the impact of policy intervention at a regional level, and thereby contributes to better and safer healthcare for EU citizens. HAI Europe is a non-profit, independent NGO and maintains a membership network of consumers, healthcare providers, academics and public interest groups working on pharmaceutical policy issues in Europe. The growing European regional network is represented in over half of EU Member States. The HAI Europe office coordinates actions with the HAI Europe Members Association, and integrates its work in collaboration with other European civil society organisations.
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Within most European populations, smoking prevalence rates differ substantially according to people’s educational level, occupational class and income level. In the European countries, smoking inequalities are generally largest, and smoking is the largest single contributor to socio-economic inequalities in mortality. Significant inequalities in smoking are now emerging in all European countries, especially in the youngest generations. Tobacco products and secondhand smoke (SHS) kill, as documented in over 20 reports (eg: IARC, US Surgeon General). Exposure to SHS kills at least 79 000 people in the EU each year, incl. deaths from lung cancer, coronary heart disease, stroke and chronic non-neoplastic respiratory disease; plus deaths in childhood caused by SHS, deaths in adults from other conditions known to be caused by active smoking and the significant, serious morbidity, both acute and chronic, caused by SHS. Special Eurobarometer 385/2012 indicates that almost one third of European citizens currently smoke either cigarettes, cigars or a pipe. As smoking is responsible for half the difference in deaths across socio-economic groups, tobacco control has a major role to play in reducing health and social inequalities.ENSP plays a major role in Europe to prevent the tobacco industry from biaising and slowing down the tobacco control process. Indeed, ENSP was created for a tighter collaboration within the tobacco control community and for a stronger and united civil society action against tobacco. Key objectives during 2015-2017:- The support to the Directive 2014/40/EU and FCTC implementation- The facilitation of the creation and the operation of national alliances for tobacco control in Europe.- The stimulation of and the participation in European projects - The facilitation of networking in Europe- The collection and distribution of informationEuropean Network for Smoking and Tobacco Prevention 2015-2017: connecting, sharing, advocating to save lives!
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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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The general objective of this collaborative project (EPIC PANACEA) is to identify and describe the determinants of weight and weight changes and to develop specific recommendations and guidelines for the prevention of Obesity in Europe.
The specific objectives of the EPIC PANACEA project are to:
1) Describe cross-sectionaly, for men and women, in three age groups, for (Northern, Central, and Southern) European regions, the association between current weight and:
a) Physical Activity
b) Nutritional habits
c) Cessation of Smoking
d) Alcohol drinking and
e) Meals eating out of home.
2) Study, using follow-up data, the determinants of stable weight and weight changes in relation to all of the above;
3) Study the interrelations between the determinants of obesity and assess the quantitative contribution of each of them specifically.

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