European Association of Public Health

European Association of Public Health
Name	European Association of Public Health
Formation	1988
Type	Non-profit organization
Headquarters	Brussels
Region served	Europe
Leader title	President

Contents

European Association of Public Health is a professional association that brings together public health professionals, researchers, policymakers and advocates from across European Union, Council of Europe, World Health Organization European Region, United Nations agencies and national public health institutes. Founded in the late 20th century, the association engages with stakeholders such as European Commission, European Parliament, World Health Organization, European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control and national ministries of health to promote evidence-based practice, health equity and population health research. Through congresses, policy statements and training, the association interacts with institutions like European Medicines Agency, Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, European Public Health Alliance and academic centres including London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, Karolinska Institutet and Humboldt University of Berlin.

History

The association was established in 1988 by founding members from institutions such as Robert Koch Institute, Institut Pasteur, National Institute for Public Health and the Environment, Finnish Institute for Health and Welfare and university departments including University of Oxford and University of Amsterdam to respond to transnational health challenges like the HIV/AIDS pandemic, the Bovine spongiform encephalopathy crisis and cross-border environmental threats. Early governance included leaders who had worked with World Health Organization, European Commission Directorate-General for Health and Food Safety, Council of Europe Health Committee and national health ministries in countries such as France, Germany, Italy and United Kingdom. Over subsequent decades the association expanded its remit to include non-communicable disease advocacy, health systems research and workforce development alongside collaborations with Médecins Sans Frontières, European Public Health Alliance, European Observatory on Health Systems and Policies and academic consortia including Erasmus University Rotterdam and University College London.

The association's mission aligns with principles advanced by World Health Organization and the European Commission to improve population health, reduce health inequalities and strengthen public health capacity across member states such as Spain, Poland, Sweden and Greece. Core objectives include promoting evidence synthesis with partners like Cochrane Collaboration, fostering workforce training linked to institutions such as European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control and supporting policy translation in fora including the European Parliament Committee on the Environment, Public Health and Food Safety and the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development Health Committee. It also prioritizes collaboration with academic organisations such as University of Copenhagen, Trinity College Dublin, Max Planck Society and Sorbonne University to advance research, ethics and practice.

Membership comprises individuals and institutional members from national public health institutes such as Istituto Superiore di Sanità, Statens Serum Institut, Agencia Estatal de Investigación, universities like University of Barcelona and professional bodies including British Medical Association, German Society for Public Health and Irish Medical Organisation. Governance follows elected structures interacting with advisory groups that have ties to World Health Organization Regional Office for Europe, European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control, United Nations Children's Fund and national ministries of health in countries such as Belgium and Netherlands. Boards and committees have included former officials from European Commission, academics affiliated with Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Imperial College London and representatives from non-governmental organisations like Health Action International.

The association runs capacity-building programs, professional development courses and thematic working groups in partnership with entities such as European Observatory on Health Systems and Policies, European Public Health Alliance, European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control and academic partners like University of Milan and Leiden University. Program areas cover communicable disease control with links to European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control initiatives, non-communicable disease prevention with collaborators such as World Heart Federation and International Diabetes Federation, health systems strengthening alongside OECD Health Division and emergency preparedness connected to European Civil Protection and Humanitarian Aid Operations. Training programs have involved collaboration with research funders such as European Research Council, Horizon Europe consortia and philanthropic partners like the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.

The association organizes biennial or annual congresses that attract delegates from organisations including European Commission, World Health Organization, European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control, academic institutions such as University of Edinburgh and policy think tanks like London School of Economics and Chatham House. Proceedings, position papers and peer-reviewed articles are published in journals and outlets connected to The Lancet, BMJ, European Journal of Public Health, university presses at Oxford University Press, Cambridge University Press and through collaborative reports with European Observatory on Health Systems and Policies and Eurostat. Conference themes have intersected with major European policy debates such as responses to the COVID-19 pandemic, tobacco control under the World Health Organization Framework Convention on Tobacco Control and antimicrobial resistance aligned with Global Action Plan on Antimicrobial Resistance.

The association maintains partnerships with supranational bodies including World Health Organization, European Commission, European Parliament, OECD and regional agencies such as European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control, working to influence policy on issues like cross-border health threats, vaccination strategy and health equity. It engages in advocacy with non-governmental coalitions such as European Public Health Alliance and collaborates on research and policy briefs with academic partners like King's College London, University of Heidelberg and Sciences Po. Through expert consultations, testimony to parliamentary committees including the European Parliament Committee on the Environment, Public Health and Food Safety and joint statements with organisations such as UNICEF and Médecins Sans Frontières, the association seeks to shape legislation, funding priorities and implementation across member states including Norway, Switzerland and Portugal.

Category:Public health organizations in Europe