Plenary sessions Virtual Event 2021

European public health has had a difficult year. Across Europe the public health response to the COVID-19 pandemic has not been entirely successful. This is despite an enormous amount of hard work in public health units all across Europe. It reflects a weakness within the profession, which has been manifested in the curious phenomenon of dual strands of public health advice, official and unofficial, in several European countries. Politicians were placed in an impossible position by this. This needs to be openly and constructively faced. By and large, public health has had limited impact on the design and implementation of a core public health policy.

The world of public health changes, but many key pieces remain the same. A key part is to hold to that which we value, and to build on that, to meet new and pressing needs. A focus on where we are, and where we want to go might be helpful for clarification. The relevant word is ‘futures’, and not ‘future’. We expect an even more diverse public health, with the public health workforce delivering in new and more traditional arenas.

‘Times change, and we are changed with them’, as the phrase has it. Public health has changed a lot in the last thirty years. Whole subdisciplines, for example health informatics, and genetic public health, have grown up in that time. Has the core practice of public health changed? Does it need to? Should it?

If so, we need to lead and shape the changes. We need to identify futures for our discipline, and figure out how to get there. If we don’t, others will, and that is not necessarily for the benefit of our practice, our practitioners, or the public. If we are to be more than well trained technicians (which is not in itself a minor accomplishment) perhaps we need to articulate more forcibly who we are, why we are, and why we are relevant?

At this conference we look back on the past turbulent year, but we also look to the future. Naturally, we pay ample attention to the pandemic: how it has evolved, how it has been tackled and how to rebuild better. But we will also try to shape the future of our profession. In a series of plenary sessions, we look at different aspects of this future: how we communicate, what our professionals need, how we can apply technology and how we should match health with climate change.

This session is the official opening session of the conference. European public health has had a difficult year. Across Europe the public health response to the COVID-19 pandemic has not been entirely successful despite an enormous amount of hard work in public health units all across Europe. The past year has shown that we need to identify futures for our discipline. If we don’t, others will, and that is not necessarily for the benefit of our practice, our practitioners, or the public. If we are to be more than well trained technicians perhaps we need to articulate more forcibly who we are, why we are, and why we are relevant?

Moderator

• Anthony Staines, Chair of the 14th EPH Conference 2021 and Regien Biesma-Blanco, Chair of the International Scientific Committee 2021

Speakers/Panellists

• Daire Keogh, President of the Dublin City University (DCU), Ireland
• Stella Kyriakides, Commissioner for Health and Food Safety, European Commission
• Stephen Donnelly, Minister of Health, Ireland
• Robin Swann, Minister of Health, Northern Ireland

Background

In the COVID-19 pandemic, Europe faces its greatest public health crisis of recent times. Countries have responded differently and with varying degrees of success. Drawing lessons from their experience is essential if public health services are to be strengthened to be fit for future crises.

The WHO Europe and the Observatory are currently undertaking a study together with countries and key stakeholders to explore the challenges public health agencies and services have encountered. Preliminary findings on the role of public health; on how far it was listened to (and how effective it was in making itself heard); and on the implications for public health practice will be outlined. There will then be a panel discussion where those who will shape the field in the decades to come reflect on their experience and what it means for the ‘theoretical’ lessons learned. The panel will be comprised of Young Professionals within Public Health and they will consider the importance of: communications; inequity and vulnerable population;  capacity (institutional and individual); and accountability, transparency and governance. They will link their experiences in the field during the pandemic to the study’s perspectives on the challenges ahead in transforming practice, training and workforce.

The session will bring together the learning for the future of public health and those who will be part of the change. It will also showcase the value of people with different backgrounds and skillsets for a diverse and multidisciplinary public health.

Objectives:

• To present preliminary findings on the challenges public health faced in responding to the pandemic and the potential lessons for future public health practice
• To give a voice and visibility the next generation of public health Young Professionals allowing them to reflect on how public health might change to address the future health challenges
• To encourage current public health actors to engage, share information and ideas, and enable change so as to build some consensus around the reforms needed in public health.

Welcome and introduction

• Opening the plenary and introducing the theme – Suszy Lessof
• Brief introduction of speakers – John Middleton

Presentation of preliminary study findings and key themes

• Overview of key initial findings on the role of public health agencies and services in responding to the pandemic – Bernd Rechel
• Drawing lessons for the future of public health practice and the steps to get there: focus, role, leadership, training and investment – Natasha Azzopardi Muscat

Topic I: Communications

• How public health communicated in the pandemic: a personal case study and reflections on how to ensure that public health messages get through in future – Tara Chen

Topic II: Inequity and vulnerable population

• The role of public health in protecting all of society: a personal case study of including the vulnerable and implications for the next generations of public health – Ines Siepmann

Topic III: Capacity (institutional and individual)

• Institutions and individuals in the front line: a personal case study on the capacity to meet the challenges and the directions that might strengthen that capacity – Rok Hrzic

Topic IV: Accountability, transparency and governance

• Complex decision making and lines of responsibility: a person case study of the leadership role of public health and the messages for developing future leadership – Tobias Weitzel

Moderated discussion

• What can public health actors do in practice to strengthen public health for the future? How do Young Professionals play their part in the transformation of public health post-pandemic?

Background

Communication has always been a key part of public health. This plenary highlights current communication challenges and opportunities for public health. At the same time as we have been experiencing a pandemic, the world is also experiencing an ‘infodemic’: an overabundance of information that occurs during an epidemic. This information may be accurate or not and spreads via digital and physical information systems. It can lead to mistrust in health authorities and undermines the public health response. An ‘infodemic’ can intensify or lengthen outbreaks when people are unsure about what they need to do to protect their health and the health of people around them. It also impacts citizens in every country, and addressing them is a new and centrally important challenge in responding to disease outbreaks. The public health workforce needs to adapt to this changing environment and its growing digitization – an expansion of social media and internet use.

In the second part of this plenary, we’ll dive into the theory of behaviour change, as well as present innovative interventions to change behaviour of populations. Decades of research in the behavioural sciences have shown that cognitive biases and social context can influence behaviours as well as efforts to change them. Human behaviour played a crucial role in shaping the pandemic and the actions taken by individuals, communities, and governments. This plenary discusses why behavioural insights and sciences should be considered as part of a holistic response to the COVID-19 pandemic or any other health challenge. The goal is to help leaders, policymakers, and the general public better understand how to manage threats, harmonize individual and collective interests, utilize successful leadership, improve risk communication, and navigate diverse social and cultural contexts.

Moderators

• Iveta Nagyova, President European Public Health Association (EUPHA)
• Petronille Bogaert, President EUPHA Public health monitoring and reporting section

Speakers/Panellists

• Tina Purnat, World Health Organization
• José Alcami Pertejo, Institute of Health Carlos III (ISCIII), Spain
• Susan Michie, University College London, United Kingdom
• Jens Degett, Editor-in-Chief of Science Stories, a science media platform

Background

Covid-19 has shown us that most countries were not focusing their emergency preparedness plans in the correct direction. Covid-19 is a long-term health event, with serious impact on so many different sectors. Preparedness plans were conceived only for health events that are more explosive in initiation and resolution.

Governments of a wide range of levels of competency, and covering much of the political spectrum, all failed to address the pandemic effectively, both from the health point of view and from the social point of view. So, what can we learn from our successes and from our failures?

In a ‘learning from this pandemic’ round, we ask all panellists to reflect on the successes and failures (each 5 minutes). In a second round, we will be asking the panellists for their ideas on how to be better prepared for future pandemics. The final 5 minutes are for the next generation of public health professionals, summarizing the ‘take home’ messages.

Moderators

• Isabel de la Mata, European Commission
• Dineke Zeegers Paget, European Public Health Association (EUPHA)

Background

As digitalization is progressively permeating all aspects of society, how can be it employed to sustain the public health goals of quality, accessibility, efficiency and equity in health care and prevention now and beyond the COVID-19 pandemic? In this session jointly presented by WHO Regional Office for Europe and EUPHA, we examine the extent to which technology is contributing positively or negatively to strengthening the resilience of health systems and empowering individuals and communities.

Prior to the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic the WHO Euro had already identified the empowerment of people and transformation of health services through digital technologies as one of its four flagship areas in the European Programme of Work 2020-2025. Digital technologies can enable progress towards universal health coverage by improving access to quality person-centred services and complementing the efforts of the health workforce. Resilience of individuals and communities to prepare and respond to emergencies can be enhanced through the effective use of data and digital technologies. Empowerment of people to lead healthier lives and prevent disease through the appropriate use of digital technologies can transform our approach to health.

In 2019 EUPHA published its manifesto for Public health digitalization in Europe, premised on the ability for digital technologies to support a transition from curative care to prevention, to support the empowerment of people and patients in taking ownership for their health and to render health care delivery more efficient, safer and cheaper. Prior to the global COVID-19 outbreak WHO Euro and EUPHA had already joined efforts towards shaping the debate around the ‘Beautiful Marriage’ where the digital health and public health communities work to co-create a healthy and fair future. COVID-19 has brought a new impetus for the use of digital technologies, both for disease control as well as to support access to care in times of emergency. This presents an opportunity for critical reflections as we transition into a post-pandemic crisis future.

The session which will be organised as a round table discussion will open by taking a candid look at how  digital technologies have been harnessed to support the public-health response to COVID-19. Panellists will critically discuss how applications have been used in population surveillance, testing, tracking and tracing, in rolling out vaccinations as well as the controversial uses of smart vaccination certificates. They will be asked to reflect on infodemics and how these have hindered an optimal global pandemic response.

In a second round, following a brief overview showing how the use of digital technologies has accelerated to support continuity of essential health services in a safe way at the peak of the pandemic, panellists will be asked to  discuss and debate what this means for the sustained transformation of health services delivery and health systems in the future. They will be asked to discuss barriers to digital health implementation, including legal, ethical and privacy barriers, as well as organizational and workforce barriers

Finally, panellists will be requested to respond to the criticism that the global health community is still using analogue tools in a fragmented manner to combat health threats in a digital era by proposing one key action that needs to be undertaken at supra-national level to ensure pan-European interoperability of health data that provides timely information on health and disease distribution within populations in Europe.

Facilitators

• Clayton Hamilton, Regional Adviser, Digital Health Flagship, WHO Regional Office for Europe
• Stefan Buttigieg, Vice-president, EUPHA Digital health section and Co-founder, Digital Health Malta

Chairs

• Natasha Azzopardi Muscat, WHO Regional Office for Europe
• Anna Odone, EUPHA Digital health section

Speakers/Panellists

• Ioannis Dimitrakopoulos, Sientific advisor European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights
• Iveta Nagyova, President European Public Health Association (EUPHA)
• Naomi Lee, Senior Executive Editor The Lancet
• Ran D. Balicer, Chief Innovation Officer, Clalit Health Services, Israel

Background

On the closing day of the UN Climate Change Conference 2021 (COP26), this plenary will discuss the four COP26 goals of ‘Mitigation, Adaptation, Finance and Collaboration’, exploring how health and equity can be further mainstreamed within these climate actions. It aims both to inform and to inspire, raising awareness about the interconnected challenges we are facing as well as discussing solutions and actions at different levels that we all can be a part of to ensure the transformational change that is needed.

Recent events have confronted us with converging emergencies: rising health inequalities, climate change and environmental degradation.Tackling these challenges requires actions by governments, corporates, communities, and individuals, and concerted strategies across health, environmental, and social sectors. Public health has an important role to play in promoting health in a rapidly changing world, and in ensuring a broad approach to health which considers socio-economic and environmental determinants. This is particularly crucial to ensure that we achieve a net zero carbon economy while simultaneously addressing the social crisis we are facing and improving health and wellbeing for all: achieving a green, healthy and just transition, leaving no one behind regardless of age, gender, ethnicity, and income and education levels.

Moderator

• Caroline Costongs, Director EuroHealthNet

Speakers/Panellists

• Maria Neira, Director Public Health, Environmental and Social Determinants of Health, World Health Organization
• Hans Bruyninckx, Executive Director European Environment Agency
• Monica Scatasta, Director, Council of Europe Development Bank
• Patrick ten Brink, Deputy Secretary General and Director EU Policy, European Environmental Bureau

Statement

EuroHealthNet and others have issued a statement urging recognition of the right to health, and of the detrimental impacts of the climate crisis on physical and mental health which are disproportionately felt by those already facing multiple disadvantages. Addressing climate change effectively will bring co-benefits for health. Changes are needed to create a sustainable future for the planet, and those changes must also lead to a fairer and healthier future for all its inhabitants.

Read the statement here.

The statement is endorsed by the Wellbeing Economy Alliance, the European Environmental Bureau, the European Public Health Association, the Global Climate and Health Alliance, and the Council of Europe Development Bank.

Moderator

• Anthony Staines, Chair of the 14th EPH Conference 2021

Speakers

• • Cecily Kelleher, Chair of Public Health Medicine and Epidemiology, University College Dublin, Ireland
  • Simone George, human rights activist

Welcome to the 15th EPH Conference 2026, Berlin, Germany

• Reinhard Busse, Chair of the 15th EPH Conference 2022