Rethinking public health communication

As we navigate the post-pandemic world, public health remains at the forefront of our collective consciousness. Yet, this summer has shown us that despite the hard-learned lessons from COVID-19, our communication strategies and public health messaging still fall short in reaching the hearts and minds of the global population. The images of athletes being carried out on stretchers during the Olympics—amidst a resurgence of COVID-19—barely registered as a blip in the broader conversation. Maskless celebrations and gatherings persisted, underscoring a worrying disconnect between public health guidance and public behaviour.

This disconnect is not just a failure of messaging but a reflection of deeper issues within our public health communication strategies. We need to rethink how we engage with the public, ensuring that our messages resonate, are understood, and most importantly, are acted upon. It is not enough to provide information; we must inspire action.

At the European Public Health Association, we are taking a significant step forward by recruiting a Senior Communication Officer, who will not only support the dissemination of facts and evidence—our core mission—but also focus on telling stories—about communities and lived experiences, and also about successes in influencing policies with evidence.

While this Journal is dedicated to science, we must also bridge the gap between public health policies and public understanding. The ongoing situation should prompt us to double down on our efforts to engage communities more effectively. We are committed to supporting our members across Europe in moving beyond traditional methods and exploring innovative ways to reach people where they are—both physically and mentally. This might mean leveraging new platforms, adapting our messages to diverse cultural contexts, or rethinking the language we use.

Public health cannot afford to be sidelined. By choosing to invest in communication, we are also aiming at being more inclusive, more engaging, and more impactful.

EUPHA is about building bridges. Our focus will be on enhancing the communication skills of public health professionals, empowering them to become more effective advocates for health, and bringing together diverse voices to tackle the most pressing public health challenges of our time.

As we advance our communication efforts, we remain firmly committed to ensuring that they are driven by evidence. There is a wealth of excellent public health research on communication strategies that we must systematically incorporate into our work. Furthermore, we recognize the importance of evaluating the impact of our communication initiatives. To this end, we are collaborating closely with our Public Health Monitoring and Reporting Section to develop a more robust framework for assessing our effectiveness. By grounding our efforts in research and continually refining our strategies based on real-world outcomes, we aim to create an evidence-based and indicator-driven communication model that not only informs but also truly transforms public health across Europe.

A changing collaboration model with WHO for changing times

Providing relevant, tailored support to every Member States in the WHO European Region has been a central tenet of the European Programme of Work (EPW) 2020–2025, ‘United Action for Better Health’.

The permacrisis of our age—including the climate emergency, threat of antimicrobial resistance, national health security issues, war and conflict, the extensive burden of non-communicable diseases and mental health, digitalization, and demographic shifts—has raised the stakes regarding WHO/Europe’s work with its Member States. At the same time, people’s expectations and demands of national health authorities and WHO have also risen.

Delivering impact for all 53 countries in the WHO European Region—32 with a WHO Country Office, and 21 without—was the guiding principle behind efforts initiated 4 years ago to take stock of and explore ways to enhance collaboration.

When canvassed at the beginning of this process, Member States and other key stakeholders were quick to acknowledge the Organization’s long-recognized value. For years, WHO/Europe has been translating global norms and standards to country contexts; guiding policy and public health measures; providing operational support to health ministries; networking and facilitating outreach across sectors; and supporting health and risk communications.

Yet Member States also identified further opportunities: to enhance dialogue; incorporate medium-term strategic perspectives and insights into planning processes; become more responsive and agile; improve institutional exchange and learning; and to leverage regional resources such as WHO’s network of collaborating centres and other partners.

‘Delivering United Action for Better Health—a strategy for collaboration between the WHO Regional Office for Europe and Member States in the WHO European Region’, approved by Member States in 2022, sought to capture this learning, framing WHO/Europe’s existing collaboration from the perspective of countries and setting out new ways to strengthen this further (Seventy-second Regional Committee for Europe: Tel Aviv, 12–14 September 2022: delivering United Action for Better Health—a strategy for collaboration between the WHO Regional Office for Europe and member states in the WHO European Region https://iris.who.int/handle/10665/361848).

Specific innovations in the strategy include:

• Country Counterparts: a senior WHO staff member designated to a single country (relevant to those without a Country Office) to provide institutional and strategic liaison. Country counterparts are currently being piloted for Ireland, Germany, Malta, Portugal, and Spain.

• Country Support Teams: teams of WHO experts and Member State colleagues responding to requests from countries for short-term collaborative support to advance key public health opportunities have been successfully trialled in Belgium, Malta, Georgia, and Germany. The offer for Country Support Teams has now been extended to all Member States.

• The Pan-European Leadership Academy (ELA) is developing the capacity for health leadership across the Region. To date, 10 countries have participated. ELA provides learning and placements for early career public health and health professionals (Tier 1), peer-to-peer exchange for mid-career ministry officials (Tier 2), and will soon be commencing a peer-support programme between high-level decision-makers responsible for health system transformation (Tier 3).

Similarly, subregional collaboration through groups of countries, regions, and cities has been reinvigorated. The Western Balkan and Central Asian Roadmaps, e.g. initiated in 2021 and 2022, respectively, foster cooperation among countries and provide a stimulus for increased investment in health, seen recently at the Central Asia International Health Investment Forum held in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan. Long-standing partnerships, such as the Small Countries Initiative, Regions for Health, and Healthy Cities networks, have continued to offer collaboration opportunities, peer exchange, and learning.

Looking beyond the WHO European Region, over the last 4 years, WHO/Europe has actively reached out to other regional offices and built a network of strategic interregional partnerships to establish synergies and share innovative ideas and approaches on a range of topics including mental health and psychosocial support, the health and care workforce, addressing health inequalities and gender equity, emergency preparedness, rapid response mobile laboratories, and refugee and migrant health.

A notable interregional achievement has been the Collaboration Framework Arrangement established with the Department of Health and Human Services of the United States of America, the Pan American Health Organization, and WHO/Europe. This Framework Arrangement provides a platform to collaborate on issues that threaten global health security, and among several aims seeks to improve equity particularly among minority and indigenous populations.

As the initial timespan for the EPW draws to a close, now is the opportunity to raise awareness about new and long-standing models of collaboration between WHO/Europe and Member States, to assess the public health impact, and to understand the lessons that can be learned.

Based on interviews with those directly involved, WHO/Europe has compiled a series of 53 country impact stories showcasing specific examples of how collaborative approaches can deliver public health benefits and advance the EPW.

As illustrated in the selection below, these stories highlight the diverse, responsive, and agile set of services that WHO/Europe provides to Member States. And they demonstrate that through ever-closer collaboration and an open culture of dialogue and learning, WHO/Europe can continue to enhance its relevance.

• Austria: through the Novel Medicine’s Platform, WHO/Europe is bringing diverse interests together—industry representatives, health authorities, and patient organizations—to develop comprehensive solutions to enhance drug pricing negotiations and improve patient access to new and effective medicines. The organization has used its unique position to facilitate complex discussions that deliver equitable health solutions.

• Czechia: WHO/Europe’s support in mapping the mental health needs of Ukrainian refugees and integrating Ukrainian specialists into multidisciplinary mental health centres has helped to empower patients and ensure we are leaving no one behind, by making services inclusive and appropriate to need. WHO/Europe can identify and act pragmatically to deliver win–win initiatives that serve both population and targeted health needs alike.

• Georgia: WHO/Europe facilitated the introduction of a new geographic information system, strengthening the country’s ability to identify high-risk areas for disease outbreaks, and improve the efficiency of data collection and disease vector analysis. The organization has access to pioneering innovations and the ability to tailor these to build national capacity.

• Lithuania: WHO/Europe has provided sustained support over many years, advocating for its ‘best buy’ alcohol control policies to be implemented, backed by data on alcohol consumption and related diseases This has helped to achieve record-low alcohol consumption and increase budget revenues from higher excise taxes. Through this support, WHO/Europe is providing a credible, science-driven, long-term perspective via ongoing strategic policy guidance that can shift political and public opinion and, over time, lower disease prevalence.

• Monaco: WHO/Europe connected national health authorities with leading scientists and modellers to refine data collection and address questions about COVID-19 mRNA vaccines, strengthening the country’s capabilities in data analysis and biostatistics, and maintaining public trust in the information shared. WHO/Europe can enhance the quality and credibility of public health initiatives, tapping into the experience of international experts.

• The Netherlands: The University of Amsterdam, a designated WHO Collaborating Centre, has developed and rolled-out a Primary Health Care performance management training, emphasizing the importance of performance measurement and data integration in the country, and fostering a community of practice among the 21 countries who have participated so far.

• Uzbekistan: WHO/Europe’s guidance in launching a medicines reimbursement system, initially for five non-communicable diseases, has helped address high out-of-pocket expenses and poor health outcomes for people with chronic conditions such as ischaemic heart disease, Type II diabetes, and bronchial asthma. This has highlighted the organization’s role in supporting countries to develop sustainable and comprehensive health financing reform and capacity to facilitate incremental, scaleable roll-out.

This selection of case studies, and others, will be published in time for the 74th session of the WHO Regional Committee for Europe.

As we look ahead to the next 5 years of collaboration in public health across the WHO European Region, and a new Programme of Work, recognizing and developing these and other strengths will secure WHO/Europe’s position as a key partner to Member States. It will also help to manage and mitigate complex health challenges and to deliver on our promise of health for all the people we serve.

Sailing the waves of European public health: exploring a sea of innovation

17th European Public Health Conference, Lisbon, Portugal

Pre-conferences 11–12 November

Main conference 13–15 November

The 17th EPH Conference in Lisbon, Portugal, is themed ‘Sailing the waves of European public health: Exploring a sea of innovation’. Just as explorers once set out from Lisbon to discover new worlds, we as public health professionals are embarking on a journey of innovation and discovery in our own field. The conference includes an extensive programme, with 16 tracks focusing on the conference themes and 2 extra tracks of workshops in a new 30-min format. The conference also offers numerous networking opportunities and opportunities to meet colleagues from Europe and beyond.

Plenary programme

The theme of this year’s EPH Conference ‘Sailing the waves of European public health: exploring a sea of innovation’, and the conference subthemes are dealt with in the plenary sessions. The focus of our exploratory journey will be on:

Artificial Intelligence in Public Health.  Wednesday 13 November, 14:00–15:00, organized by WHO Regional Office for Europe, European Observatory on Health Systems and Policies, exploring how AI is transforming disease surveillance, healthcare delivery, and decision-making.

Global Health: how can European public health efforts contribute to global health solutions. Wednesday 13 November, 18:00–19:00. Organized by European Public Health Association (EUPHA), Association of Schools of Public Health in the European Region (ASPHER).

With: Iveta Nagyova, President EUPHA; Henrique Barros, President ASPHER; Ilona Kickbusch, Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies, Geneva (tbc); Emma Rawson-Te Patu, President WFPHA; Mauricio Barreto, Federal University of Bahia, Brazil; Charles Ageymang, Professor of Global Migration, Ethnicity & Health, University of Amsterdam, Netherlands.

Tackling health inequalities in times of crisis. Thursday 14 November, 10:30–11:30 Lisbon time, organized by EuroHealthNet.

Across Europe, people are struggling with rising the cost of living to lack of housing, food insecurity, climate change, conflicts, and social unrest. These challenges impact people’s health and wellbeing, and create the conditions for persisting health inequalities. Tackling health inequalities in times of crisis requires urgent, targeted action to address poverty, in particular among children. This calls for a multifaceted, intersectoral approach, acknowledging the diverse factors contributing to this societal challenge. Education emerges as a crucial equalizer, alongside income and social safety nets. This plenary session focuses on child poverty and health. What lessons can we draw from new approaches across sectors that meet social and health needs, and how can we navigate these challenges—and sail those waves of innovation—to ensure equitable health and social justice for all? With: Fran Baum, The Stretton Institute, The University of Adelaide, Australia (by video message), Julie Humphreys, Deputy Director, Tackling Child Poverty & Financial Wellbeing, Scottish Government, UK (tbc), Didier Jourdan, UNESCO Chair Global Health and Education and Vice-President Blaise Pascal University, France, and others.

Harnessing social marketing for interdisciplinary health management: Enhancing public health outcomes. Thursday 14 November, 14:00–15:00, organized by European Health Management Association (EHMA).

By strategically framing health messages, social marketing can effectively reach diverse populations, encouraging them to adopt practices that enhance their wellbeing. This plenary session seeks to shed light on how ‘social marketing’ can be applied outside the traditional health sector, such as in architecture, education, transportation, and manufacturing. The session will highlight innovative approaches for engaging non-health stakeholders in decision-making processes, leveraging the expertise of health management and public health professionals.

One Health in Europe: from concept to practice. Friday 15 November, 10:30–11:30, organised by European Commission.

Keynote speaker Sandra Gallina, Director-General, DG SANTE. Panellists: Stef Bronzwaer, Cross-Agency One Health Task Force, European Food Safety Authority (EFSA); Barbara Häsler, Royal Veterinary College, UK (tbc); Susana Pombo, Chief Veterinary Officer, Portugal, President World Organization for Animal Health (WOAH); Eva Zažímalová, Co-lead One Health Scientific Opinion.

The 17th EPH Conference in Lisbon invites public health professionals and students to navigate the vast ocean of possibilities within our field, charting a course towards a future where innovation and collaboration lead the way in addressing the complex health challenges of our time.

Keep updated on all the details at the conference website: www.ephconference.eu

See you in Lisbon!

Ricardo Mexia, Chair of the 17th EPH Conference, Lisbon 2024

Floris Barnhoorn, Deputy Director EPH Conference