17th meeting of the HEPA Europe Steering Committee, Zurich, Switzerland, 7 March 2012

The 17th meeting of the Steering Committee of HEPA Europe was convened to review progress with implementation of the 2011/2012 work programme and to update on recent international developments. In addition, the applications for membership received since the last meeting were assessed and two pending application further discussed. An update on preparations of the 8th annual meeting and symposium in September 2012 in Cardiff was also given. Further, key tasks for the subcommittee to develop a recruitment strategy for the Steering Committee were defined as well as next steps for the development of a communication strategy for HEPA Europe.

The meeting was attended by nine members of the Steering Committee and one WHO staff from the Regional Office for Europe. The meeting was kindly hosted and supported by the Institute of Social and Preventive Medicine of the University of Zurich, Switzerland. It was chaired by Willem van Mechelen from the Free University (VU) Medical Center, Amsterdam, the Netherlands, and assisted by the WHO European Centre for Environment and Health, Rome office, and the Institute of Social and Preventive Medicine of the University of Zurich, Switzerland.