Activities

WHO/Europe supports activities at country and international level to implement health literacy related initiatives.

Two Member States action networks have been set up to support Member States in their efforts to enhance health and well-being through health literacy actions in the areas of measurement and noncommunicable diseases.

Action Network on Measuring Population and Organizational Health Literacy (M-POHL)

The M-POHL Network was established under the umbrella of WHO Europe’s Health Information Initiative (EHII) in February 2018 with the adoption of the Vienna Statement on the Measurement of Health Literacy in Europe. M-POHL builds up on the first European Health Literacy Survey (HLS-EU) (2009-2012).

M-POHL aims at bringing more value to national efforts by:

• institutionalizing regular, high-quality internationally comparative surveys of population health literacy across Europe;
• supporting the collection of data on organizational health literacy; and
• providing data to support evidence-informed policy and practice decisions to improve health literacy, in line with WHO policy frameworks.

So far, 28 Member States of the WHO European Region participate in M-POHL. The International Coordination Centre of the network is based at the Austrian Public Health Institute, and the network is currently being chaired by Austria.

For further information, please see short communication in “Public Health Panorama” (Volume 5, Issue 1, March 2019).

European Action Network on Health Literacy for Prevention and Control of NCDs (HL NCD Network)

The HL NCD Network has been established to promote health literacy for achieving progress in reducing premature mortalities from NCDs, as well as preventing diseases and promoting health through the life-course. This Network consists of participants from Member States of the WHO European Region who work together to achieve the SDG target 3.4 (reduce premature mortality from NCDs by one third by 2030) and to support all Member States in reaching this goal. The Network is based on global and national health literacy experiences and will support demonstration projects from countries of the WHO European Region to improve implementation in the prevention of NCDs and to strengthen mental health through the life-course in different settings.

The objectives of the HL NCD Network is to establish a Member States community of practice in health literacy for the implementation of initiatives in the area of prevention and control of NCDs. This entails sharing experiences, reinforce implementations of health literacy projects, generate and disseminate evidence-based knowledge and good practices in health literacy promotion and support and advocate development and implementation of health literacy initiatives, among others.

So far, 26 Member States of the WHO European Region participate in the HL NCD network. The network is currently being chaired by Portugal and the Russian Federation.

For further information, please see short communication in “Public Health Panorama” (Volume 5, Issue 2–3, June–September 2019).