News

Using the arts to improve health: WHO pioneers large-scale, arts-based health interventions 21-04-2021

A new partnership project initiated by WHO/Europe and the Nordic Culture Fund sets out to explore effective and sustainable strategies for integrating arts and culture into the wider health-care sector. Led by WHO/Europe’s flagship unit on behavioural and cultural insights for health, it will bring together academics, artists, cultural institutions, health-care practitioners and policy-makers from different countries.

Measles and rubella elimination: verification process continues amid COVID-19 pandemic 13-08-2020

Public health systems and independent national verification committees in countries of the WHO European Region have shown continued commitment to measles and rubella elimination even with the COVID-19 pandemic creating an extraordinary burden on health systems.

WHO addresses European Parliament on COVID-19 response 01-07-2020

On 25 June, WHO Director-General Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus and WHO Regional Director for Europe Dr Hans Henri P. Kluge spoke to the European Parliament Committee on the Environment, Public Health and Food Safety (ENVI) about the global response to COVID-19. They highlighted the leadership of the European Union (EU) at this unprecedented time and responded to questions from Members of the European Parliament.

World No Tobacco Day 2020 awards: recognizing the tobacco control champions 28-05-2020

31 May marks World No Tobacco Day, and in 2020 the focus will be on “protecting youth from industry manipulation and preventing them from tobacco and nicotine use”. In addition to raising awareness of and building support for tobacco control, World No Tobacco Day offers an opportunity to recognize the achievements of tobacco control champions from around the world.

Strong legislation helps defeat e-cigarettes in Finland 20-05-2020

Finland has demonstrated that is it possible to reduce the number of smokers without seeing a surge in e-cigarette users, an issue which has become a public health dilemma for the tobacco control community in recent years.

WHO report on health behaviours of 11–15-year-olds in Europe reveals more adolescents are reporting mental health concerns 19-05-2020

In around a third of countries, the report reveals a rise in adolescents feeling pressured by schoolwork and a decline in young people reporting to like school. The report also discloses that over 1 in 10 adolescents report having been cyberbullied at least once in the past two months.

Moving towards a multisectoral approach to tackling antimicrobial resistance 19-03-2020

A new publication produced by WHO’s European Observatory on Health Systems and Policies and published by Cambridge University Press outlines the need for multisectoral approaches – involving disciplines such as human medicine, veterinary medicine, agricultural sciences, epidemiology, economics, sociology and psychology – to address the global problem of antimicrobial resistance (AMR). The publication goes on to describe the potential economic and policy responses for tackling the challenge of AMR in the European Union.

Katja Soininen – providing health care services in the digital age 21-02-2020

“We nurses are always working to empower patients, and sometimes we tend to see ourselves as the main actors in people’s health. But really, patients themselves are the protagonists and digital health technologies can empower them in their self-care,” says 40-year old Katja Soininen, an electrophysiology nurse finishing up her Master’s degree in digital health at Kuopio University Hospital in Finland.

Standing up for health for all 06-02-2020

Dr Hans Kluge, the new WHO Regional Director for Europe, opened a country briefing yesterday to showcase collaboration between the Ministry of Health of Lithuania and the WHO Country Office in Lithuania. The briefing took place during WHO’s Executive Board meeting in Geneva, Switzerland. WHO/Europe has provided such briefings at several recent governance meetings in order to increase Member States’ understanding of WHO’s work and impact at the country level.

Violence against children: tackling hidden abuse 13-01-2020

Each year, at least 55 million children experience some form of violence in the WHO European Region, including physical, sexual, emotional and psychological violence. Despite the magnitude of this figure, it is well established that incidents of interpersonal violence are widely underreported.

Nordic countries working together to sustain measles and rubella elimination 20-12-2019

The Finnish national verification committee for measles and rubella elimination officially joined the Scandinavian Verification Committee, representing Denmark, Norway and Sweden, on 4 December 2019 in Helsinki, Finland. This development will strengthen the Nordic countries’ collaboration in assessing measles and rubella surveillance and immunization data.

Rethinking health at the 74th United Nations General Assembly 08-10-2019

A recent side event at the 74th session of the United Nations General Assembly, co-hosted by the European Observatory on Health Systems and Policies and WHO, has demonstrated how health expenditure drives sustainable and inclusive growth rather than being a drain on the economy.

Health literacy counts as academic competence in Finnish schools 13-09-2019

In Finnish national school curricula, health literacy is introduced as a competence to help make sound health decisions, and to identify and work on the factors that affect one’s own health and well-being.

Member States to reflect on 10 years of progress in public health and set health priorities for Europe at RC69 15-07-2019

On 16–19 September 2019, health ministers and high-level representatives of the 53 Member States of the WHO European Region, along with partner organizations and civil society, will gather for the 69th session of the WHO Regional Committee for Europe (RC69).

Seventy-first World Health Assembly comes to a close after charting a new course for WHO 29-05-2018

The Seventy-first World Health Assembly took place on 21–26 May 2018 in Geneva, Switzerland. Over the course of the 6 days, delegates charted a new course for the Organization.

Case study: learning from the Finnish experience in tobacco control 23-05-2018

Finland is globally and within the WHO European Region one of the forerunners in tobacco control and is therefore well prepared to face new challenges which are emerging in the country, especially among young Finns.

Nordic countries publish new protocol for monitoring food marketing to children 10-04-2018

As part of their efforts to tackle childhood obesity and promote healthy diets, 5 Nordic countries have launched a joint initiative to monitor food marketing to children in their countries using fully comparable methods. The aim is to use the monitoring to inform evaluation policy decisions on this topic.

Meetings with high-level Finnish delegation focus on emergencies, communicable and noncommunicable diseases 13-03-2018

On 6 March 2018, a high-level delegation from the Ministry of Social Affairs and Health of Finland visited WHO/Europe in Copenhagen, Denmark. The meetings that took place provided an opportunity for the Finnish delegation and members of the WHO/Europe leadership team to explore common public health interests, and to discuss ways in which WHO/Europe can strengthen its collaboration with Finland at national and regional levels.

World Health Assembly Day 1: outgoing Director-General Chan says “reducing inequalities” should guide future health work 23-05-2017

Some 3500 delegates from WHO’s 194 Member States – including a large proportion of the world’s health ministers – are attending the Seventieth World Health Assembly, which ends on 31 May. They are debating ways to advance the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and its Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), focusing on building better systems for health.

Inspiration tour to North Karelia: 45 successful years of reducing coronary heart disease mortality the community way 21-04-2017

In 1972, Finland had the highest rate of coronary heart disease (CHD) mortality in the world, and the region of North Karelia in eastern Finland had the highest rate in the country. To address this issue, the region initiated what is known as the North Karelia Project, a far-reaching, community-based intervention that aims to reduce CHD mortality by encouraging healthier habits and cutting down on risk factors such as high cholesterol intake and smoking.

Measuring primary health care performance: what’s new? 20-04-2017

In their pursuing to meet global commitments, countries of the WHO European Region are renewing their commitment to primary health care (PHC) as a means of improving responsiveness and bringing cost-effective health services closer to individuals, their families and communities.

Tackling mild depression: “iCBT was perfect for me.” 04-04-2017

Telepsychiatry, also known as eMental health, is being used increasingly widely, especially in the form of internet-based cognitive behavioural therapy (iCBT). After an initial assessment to determine a patient’s suitability for iCBT, a doctor prescribes the online course, which is done segment by segment. The patient’s progress is monitored by a mental health professional who can be contacted at any time.

Cities as entry points in prevention of noncommunicable diseases (NCDs) 10-10-2016

With NCDs accounting for more than 80% of the total deaths in the Baltic Sea Region, the successful experiences of tackling NCDs in three cities of the region provided valuable learning at the 19th European Health Forum Gastein on Wednesday, 28 September 2016.

From local to global: improved urban health through stronger communication and leadership 23-09-2016

Healthy Cities, the WHO network promoting urban health, piloted a new training course for its coordinators in Turku, Finland, on 19–21 September 2016. Participants from across the WHO European Region joined the course, sharing knowledge and experiences in the fields of communication and leadership.

New course builds “soft skills” for greater health equity and well-being in policy 01-07-2016

On 8–10 June 2016, WHO/Europe held the first "flagship" course on Equity in Health in All Policies (eHiAP). The course is designed to build capacity in the "soft skills" needed to bridge policies and sectors to ensure greater health equity and well-being. The soft skills required for policy implementation are agenda-setting, stakeholder analysis and negotiating with a wide range of policy-makers. The participants included individuals from the Nordic and Baltic countries who work at national, regional and local levels to shape and implement policies to improve health outcomes.

Despite progress, no European country on track to meet salt reduction goal 02-05-2016

Food and health experts from across Europe met in Lisbon, Portugal on 20–22 April 2016 to discuss strategies to reduce the harmful levels of salt in food.

WHO/Europe brings lessons from Ebola preparedness and good practices to international health security discourse 30-07-2015

On 13 July 2015, WHO convened a high-level conference in Cape Town, South Africa called "Building Health Security Beyond Ebola".

Using price policies to promote healthier diets 23-03-2015

Several countries in the WHO European Region have now introduced health-related taxes or subsidies on specific foods and/or nutrients to positively influence dietary intake and health outcomes. A new publication provides information on the use of price policies to promote healthy diets and summarizes recent policy developments from different parts of the Region.

Countries urged to set national targets and implement proven interventions to prevent premature deaths from noncommunicable diseases 19-01-2015

Every year, 16 million people die prematurely – before the age of 70 – of heart and lung diseases, a stroke, cancer or diabetes, according to the “Global Status Report on noncommunicable diseases 2014”, released by WHO today. The report states that most of these deaths are preventable and, with an investment of only US$1-3 dollars per person per year, countries can dramatically reduce illness and death from noncommunicable diseases (NCDs). 

Snapshot from Across Europe: Successful Nutrition Policies 30-09-2014

Concerted and comprehensive action in the area of food and nutrition is recognised as a priority for the European region in order to tackle the burden of overweight, obesity and noncommunicable diseases (NCDs) and to eliminate pockets of undernutrition. The 64th Session of the WHO Regional Committee for Europe unanimously adopted the European Food and Nutrition Action Plan 2015-2020, which recommends a comprehensive package of policies to respond to this challenge.

Highlights of day 1 – Focus on more equitable, sustainable health for Europe 15-09-2014

“Our aim will be better health for Europe, more equitable and sustainable,” said Zsuzsanna Jakab, WHO Regional Director for Europe, in her address to representatives of all 53 Member States in the WHO European Region.

Achieving a tobacco free generation – “stopping them from starting” 04-09-2014

Finland uses a range of legislative measures to end tobacco use. Its goal is to reduce the proportion of smokers in the adult population to or below 2% by 2040. Achieving a tobacco free generation is one of the main themes of the European strategy for child and adolescent health for 2015–2020, which will be submitted to the 2014 session of the WHO Regional Committee for Europe.

Nordic countries committed to tackling health inequities 02-09-2014

Participants at the 11th Nordic Conference on Public Health, organized by the Nordic Societies for Health and Well-being and held in Trondheim, Norway on 27–29 August 2014, negotiated and signed the Trondheim Declaration, committing themselves to contributing to increasing Nordic collaboration for equitable health and well-being in the Nordic region, and reducing global health inequities. The Declaration recognizes the key role of Health 2020, as the European framework and strategy to improve health and well-being.

World Health Assembly, day 4: proposals on coordination of noncommunicable disease response 26-05-2014

The World Health Assembly approved proposals to improve global coordination of efforts to address noncommunicable diseases like diabetes, cancers, heart disease and stroke. It also approved a resolution to improve the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of viral hepatitis.

Harnessing the potential of cross-border care in the Baltic states and Finland 11-02-2014

Senior decision-makers in the health sectors of Estonia, Finland, Latvia and Lithuania gathered in Tallinn, Estonia on 28–29 November 2013 to discuss a policy framework for cross-border care and health professional mobility.

Republic of Moldova learning from Finland´s health workforce planning 29-10-2013

A delegation from the Republic of Moldova visited Helsinki, Finland from 23 to 25 September 2013 to learn from Finnish experience with strategic health workforce planning, monitoring of stocks and flows of health professionals as well as anticipation of workforce demands.

Finnish health minister visits WHO/Europe 11-10-2013

Susanna Huovinen, Minister of Health and Social Services of Finland, met Zsuzsanna Jakab, WHO Regional Director for Europe, on 10 October 2013. The meeting enabled the Minister to gain a fuller understanding of WHO/Europe’s work and the European health policy framework, Health 2020.

Moldovan public health specialists study service delivery in Estonia and Finland 13-12-2012

Key public health stakeholders from the Republic of Moldova visited Estonia and Finland on 28 November–5 December 2012 to learn more about the delivery of essential public health operations at national and local levels and to establish collaboration networks in both countries.

First day of World Health Assembly focuses on universal health-care coverage 22-05-2012

The Sixty-fifth World Health Assembly, WHO’s annual global meeting of ministers and senior health officials, opened yesterday. In her opening address, Margaret Chan, WHO Director-General, emphasized the importance of universal coverage.

Statement of Global Advisory Committee on Vaccine Safety (GACVS) on Pandemrix® vaccine and narcolepsy 10-02-2011

A statement of the National Institute of Health and Welfare of Finland indicated an increased risk of narcolepsy among children and adolescents vaccinated with Pandemrix®, an adjuvanted vaccine against pandemic influenza A(H1N1) 2009 manufactured by GlaxoSmithKline. WHO’s Global Advisory Committee on Vaccine Safety (GACVS) has reviewed the data and released a statement.

Pandemrix® vaccine and increased risk of narcolepsy 01-02-2011

The National Institute of Health and Welfare of Finland issued a statement on 1 February 2011, indicating an increased risk of narcolepsy (a rare sleep disorder that causes a person to fall asleep suddenly and unexpectedly) observed among children and adolescents vaccinated with Pandemrix®, an adjuvanted vaccine against pandemic influenza A(H1N1) 2009 manufactured by GlaxoSmithKline.