News

Call for experts: Technical Advisory Group on Behavioural and Cultural Insights 06-07-2021

The World Health Organization (WHO) is seeking experts to serve as members of the Technical Advisory Group on Behavioural and Cultural Insights (TAG-BCI). This Call for experts provides information about the advisory group in question, the expert profiles being sought, the process to express interest, and the process of selection.

New WHO tools use behavioural insights to help curb the spread of antimicrobial resistance 10-06-2021

WHO has released 3 documents that aim to strengthen efforts to tackle antimicrobial resistance (AMR) through a behavioural insights approach: the TAP Quick Guide, the TAP Toolbox and the TAP Process poster. A fourth document – the TAP Manual – will be available by the end of the year.

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.

Humanity, empathy and autonomy: Italian study on how to “humanize” health-care systems 25-02-2021

The Emilia-Romagna Region of Italy, a member of the WHO European Regions for Health Network (RHN), has shared the results of an ambitious report looking at “humanization practices” in health-care settings. The Regional Agency for Health and Social Care identified projects and initiatives deployed by the regional health system that could be adapted and applied to other regions and countries sharing similar objectives.

WHO/Europe looks ahead to a busy 2021 08-02-2021

Following an unprecedented year for WHO in 2020, WHO/Europe looks ahead to 2021 with a focus on the continuing COVID-19 pandemic alongside the implementation of the European Programme of Work.

One year on: European Programme of Work forms vital part of COVID-19 response 03-02-2021

A year since being confirmed as WHO Regional Director for Europe, Dr Hans Henri P. Kluge has overseen the endorsement by Member States of the European Programme of Work, 2020–2025 – “United Action for Better Health in Europe” (EPW), which has already had an impact on WHO/Europe’s response to the pandemic.

When silence is not a virtue: how traditional masculinities keep men from seeking mental health advice 09-10-2020

When Giancarlo Gaglione’s brother, Lanfranco, died by suicide at the age of 26, it came like a lightning bolt out of the blue. None of his family or friends had noticed anything different about him leading up to the moment he took his own life, and he only confided briefly, a week before, in two people: his best friend and his girlfriend.

How to counter pandemic fatigue and refresh public commitment to COVID-19 prevention measures 07-10-2020

In recent weeks, many countries have been reporting an increase in “pandemic fatigue” – people are feeling demotivated about following recommended behaviours to protect themselves and others from the virus.

Self-testing for HIV at home – successful project in Bulgaria 18-09-2020

A demonstration project conducted in Bulgaria has shown that more people get tested for HIV when self-testing is available. In situations where testing is based in health-care institutions, it can be a challenge to encourage some people to come forward. Community-based testing is a good way to overcome those barriers, but it can be labour intensive. Self-testing can work out less expensive, and a demonstration project conducted last year clearly shows the role it can play. The findings are especially relevant to health authorities working hard to maintain essential services during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Ministers back 5-year plan to put health in Europe on track 14-09-2020

Today, ministers of health and public health leaders from the 53 Member States of the WHO European Region endorsed a new 5-year vision, the European Programme of Work (EPW) 2020–2025, that sets down how WHO/Europe and its Member States will work together to meet citizens’ expectations for health.

Tailoring health interventions: behavioural and cultural insights for health 19-08-2020

Behavioural and cultural insights are still relatively underutilized in global health. By drawing on fields outside of medicine such as the social sciences and health humanities (including anthropology, history, sociology and psychology), it is possible to develop more effective health interventions.

New WHO tools to support health-care workers promoting breastfeeding in Europe 06-08-2020

During this year’s World Breastfeeding Week, WHO launched 3 new tools that will make it easier for health-care providers to support and promote breastfeeding to become a regular and popular practice. The publications will be especially useful for the WHO European Region, which is the WHO region with the lowest levels of exclusive breastfeeding.

WHO/Europe launches new podcast – Health in Europe 01-07-2020

Health in Europe is a new podcast from the WHO Regional Office for Europe. WHO works with thousands of inspiring and driven individuals and groups, and this podcast is about hearing their stories and how they might impact your day-to-day life.

International Children’s Day: new WHO report tells the stories of child trauma 02-06-2020

On 1 June 2020, International Children’s Day, WHO released a new report on early life trauma (also referred to as adverse childhood events) with a focus on Belarus and Ukraine.

Embracing cultural diversity unlocks key resources for more inclusive health systems 20-05-2020

Held every year on 21 May, the World Day for Cultural Diversity for Dialogue and Development is an opportunity to celebrate not only the richness of the world’s cultures, but also the importance of cultural competency and intercultural dialogue within health-care systems.

New WHO/Europe tool for behavioural insights: critical to inform COVID-19 response 06-04-2020

WHO/Europe has released a new behavioural insights tool for national and local authorities developing and coordinating interventions, policies and messages for the COVID-19 response. Understanding public levels of trust, people’s perceptions of risk, and the barriers they may face in following recommended actions is critical to the effectiveness and success of pandemic response measures. Such insights into public behaviour form the basis of effective communication and can identify issues related to stigma or conspiracy myths, for example, as they emerge, thus ensuring that they are addressed quickly and effectively.

WHO project on cultural contexts of health and well-being adopted in the United States 03-04-2020

WHO/Europe is pleased to announce that the cultural contexts of health and well-being (CCH) project, which it pioneered and established, will now also be rolled out in the United States of America.

Collaboration between health and education sectors helps improve vaccination coverage in Ukraine 17-02-2020

Stopping the recent measles outbreak in Ukraine has required good coordination at all levels between the health and education sectors. Among other joint actions, verification of children’s immunization status through school-based records was initiated to identify children at risk and to inform immunization catch-up campaigns. In line with the Ministry of Health’s Workplan on Immunization for 2019–2021, of which WHO is a partner, WHO conducted a national workshop on 18–19 December 2019 to help make this verification approach a regular part of immunization practices.

Launching the 2020 Culture and Health webinar Series 27-01-2020

WHO/Europe is pleased to release details of the 2020 Culture and Health webinar series. For the second year running, the series shines a spotlight on the cultural contexts of contemporary health challenges.

WHO project wins the Global Aesthetic Achievement of the Year award 03-01-2020

WHO Regional Office for Europe’s project on Cultural Contexts of Health and Well-being (CCH) has been awarded the 2019 Global Aesthetic Achievement of the Year for its work on arts and health, notably the publication of the Health Evidence Network (HEN) synthesis report “What is the evidence on the role of the arts in improving health and well-being? A scoping review” (2019).

Promoting health literacy as powerful tool to address public health challenges 18-12-2019

WHO has been scaling up its activities to promote health literacy as an essential tool to address public health challenges and to support countries in implementing health literacy projects. On 6–7 November 2019, WHO conducted a training in Moscow, Russian Federation, for 9 eastern European and central Asian countries on developing, implementing and evaluating national health literacy projects focused on tackling noncommunicable diseases (NCDs).

WHO/Europe methodology identifies causes of low vaccination uptake to help protect health for all 09-12-2019

Under-vaccination can lead to outbreaks of dangerous vaccine-preventable diseases. A new WHO/Europe document provides expanded guidance for identifying reasons for why some people are not vaccinated and tailoring interventions to remove the barriers they face. The aim is that everyone has equitable access to the health protection offered by vaccines.

Can you dance your way to better health and well-being? For the first time, WHO studies the link between arts and health 11-11-2019

Engaging with the arts can be beneficial for both mental and physical health. This is a key conclusion of a new report from the WHO Regional Office for Europe analysing the evidence from over 900 global publications – the most comprehensive review of evidence on arts and health to date.

Intercultural mediators to ensure equitable health care services 22-10-2019

A newly published WHO Health Evidence Network (HEN) synthesis report has found that intercultural mediators are highly effective in bridging linguistic and cultural gaps and are therefore indispensable to high-quality, comprehensive health care provision for refugees and migrants. However, the report also shows that the impact of intercultural mediators is hindered by a lack of professionalization, insufficient training and the non-systematic and inconsistent implementation of intercultural mediation programmes.

Experts call for bold action on school-based health in the Russian Federation 15-10-2019

National and international policy experts on healthy nutrition and physical activity in schools have called for bold action to promote the health of school-aged children and to invest in a future where all children have the freedom to lead a healthy and active life.

Immunization professionals learn how behavioural insights can be applied to increase vaccination uptake 25-09-2019

To help immunization professionals identify and address the reasons for less than optimal coverage, WHO held the third annual Behavioural Insights Summer School (BISS) on 26–30 August 2019, jointly organized with the University of Erfurt, Germany.

Stories from the field – helping migrants to help themselves through health literacy 19-09-2019

After working as an assistant nurse and social worker in Sweden for more than 10 years, Noorihe Halimi now teaches recently arrived migrants how to make their way through the intricacies of the state health-care system.

Day 4 highlights: Regional Director thanks “the strongest minds and warmest hearts in public health” 19-09-2019

On the fourth and final day of the 69th session of the WHO Regional Committee for Europe (RC69), Member States adopted a resolution on promoting health literacy that seeks to help people make informed health decisions. Dr Zsuzsanna Jakab also expressed her deep thanks to delegates and staff for their commitment to public health during her 10-year mandate as WHO Regional Director for Europe.

RC69 opens on 16 September with review of progress in public health 13-09-2019

WHO/Europe’s annual governance meeting, RC69 takes place on 16–19 September 2019. Over 500 delegates will reflect on a decade of public health progress, and discuss key issues including health equity, health literacy and accelerating primary health care. This year’s session also includes the election of the new WHO Regional Director for Europe.

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.

Health literacy to support healthy childbirth and promote breastfeeding – a personal story from the Russian Federation 13-09-2019

Doctor Tatyana Butskaya is a paediatrician, blogger and social activist who is committed to changing attitudes towards childbirth and promoting breastfeeding in the Russian Federation. In 2015, she set up the Open Maternity Hospital project to improve health literacy among both mothers and health professionals, ensure the quality of maternity hospitals, and promote breastfeeding. Participants in the project include doctors, health professionals and young mothers.

Croatia increases health literacy to reduce salt intake 13-09-2019

As part of the comprehensive national health promotion project Healthy Living, Croatia has implemented measures to help people choose healthy food options and to encourage food producers to reduce the amount of salt added to foods.

World Cancer Day: action for protection against cervical cancer 29-01-2019

Cervical cancer is among the most common types of cancer affecting women in the WHO European Region, with 69 000 new cases and 30 000 deaths estimated for 2018 alone. Yet unlike most other types of cancer, it is vaccine-preventable.

Danish health literacy campaign restores confidence in HPV vaccination 28-01-2019

Danish health authorities have launched a media campaign to restore public confidence in response to negative media reports questioning the safety of the human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine and a related decline in the number of teenage girls getting it. The vaccine protects against cervical cancer.

Portuguese Health Literacy Action Plan helps people to help themselves 18-01-2019

In a bid to improve the ability of individuals to access, understand and use correct information to maintain good health, Portugal has initiated a Health Literacy Action Plan, which encourages the active participation of its citizens in health-care decisions.

Experts address alarming increase in caesarean sections at meeting in Tbilisi, Georgia 21-12-2018

Member States, policy-makers and experts from 19 countries gathered at a WHO meeting in Tbilisi, Georgia, to agree on how to reduce unnecessary caesarean sections (C-sections) in the WHO European Region.

Understanding why people do or do not vaccinate – the first step to increasing vaccination coverage 25-10-2018

Why is little Jon not vaccinated? Does his family not feel welcome at the health clinic, or is the waiting time too long? Do his parents have doubts about vaccine safety, or are they not well-informed about the vaccination schedule? Only when we know the root causes of low coverage can we address them. Despite this, only a few national immunization programmes have conducted in-depth analysis to understand the barriers to vaccination in their countries.

New Action Network strengthens health literacy measurement in Europe 30-04-2018

The Action Network on Measuring Population and Organizational Health Literacy (M-POHL Network) was established under the umbrella of the WHO European Health Information Initiative (EHII) and aligned with Health 2020, the European policy framework for health and well-being. The Network aims to institutionalize a regular internationally comparative European health literacy survey of high quality and support the collection of data on organizational health literacy as prerequisites for evidence-based policy and practice on health literacy.