Plenary sessions Dublin 2023

The main theme of the 16^th EPH Conference Dublin 2023 is:

Our Food, Our Health, Our Earth: A Sustainable Future for Humanity

This session is the official opening session of the conference and provides an introduction to the main theme.

Moderator

• Anthony Staines, Chair of the 16^th EPH Conference 2023

Speakers/Panellists

• Isabel de la Mata, Principal Adviser for Health and Crisis Management, Health and Food Safety Directorate General, European Commission
• Luke Clancy, Director General, TobaccoFree Research Institute, Ireland
• Natasha Azzopardi Muscat, Director of the Division of Country Health Policies and Systems, WHO Regional Office for Europe

Background

Food is central to our health and well-being, yet many aspects of our food systems have become unhealthy and unsustainable. Our food systems today contribute significantly to, and are being destabilized by, the environmental crises we are facing. An increase in the consumption of low-quality diets is the leading cause of death and a major contributor to the burden of non-communicable diseases in Europe. Dietary guidelines issued by governments do not align at all with what is being produced, consumed, and exported.

Food systems have also contributed to creating, entrenching and widening health inequalities across Europe, as subgroups of the population have little access to and ability to choose healthy and sustainable food. In addition, the benefits of current food production and consumption systems go to large transnational companies rather than small companies and primary producers; the average EU farmer for example earns 50% of the average worker in the economy.

Major external shocks such as COVID-19 and the Russian war against Ukraine have reflected the vulnerability of our current systems of food production and redistribution, as experienced through growing levels of food inflation, food insecurity and hunger in Europe, and even more so in other parts of the world.

Ambitious intersectoral and systemic approaches are needed to address current contradictions in our food systems, and to make them more sustainable and resilient. Public health professionals need to step up their action to highlight the impacts of unhealthy food consumption, advocating and engaging in political debates. Promising policies at the EU level, such as the Farm to Fork Strategy, Sustainable Food Law, and on Food Security, set out planned measures to make food systems more environmentally friendly, fair and healthy. Ensuring that such policies are actually implemented, and that environmental, health and social considerations are valued in equal measure as economic ones, remains however a major challenge.

This plenary session will focus on what measures are urgently needed and must be prioritized to ensure more sustainable food systems and to improve health and well- being across Europe. The plenary will also discuss the challenges, and the role of health professionals in helping to achieve this critical shift.

Moderators

• Suzanne Costello, CEO, Institute of Public Health, Ireland
• Caroline Costongs, Director EuroHealthNet

Video address

• Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, Director-General World Health Organization

Academic keynote: Setting the scene: converging crises: food, climate and health

• Tim Lang, Emeritus Professor of Food Policy, City University of London, United Kingdom

Panel discussion on Measures urgently needed to address the food and climate crises and promote healthy, sustainable nutrition

Featuring short presentations by four inspiring panelists, followed by a discussion with the panellists and Professor Lang.

• Driving change and tackling food insecurity at the global level through an ambitious policy agenda
  Francesco Branca, Director of the Nutrition and Food Safety Department, World Health Organization (video address)
• Partnering across policy, science and business to radically disrupt our food systems
  Gunhild A Stordalen, Founder & Executive Chair, EAT Foundation
• Driving sustainable changes to our food systems to improve the health of all and reduce inequalities and the role of public health
  Anant Jani, University of Heidelberg, Germany and Fellow Oxford Martin School, Oxford University, United Kingdom

Background

The rising burden of non-communicable diseases (NCDs) makes a business-as-usual approach to public and planetary health increasingly untenable. Despite significant international and national commitments and the fact that NCDs are largely preventable, the public health community remains challenged in its quest to identify effective solutions for NCD reduction.

Two pressing issues make responding to this challenge particularly intricate. The first is the narrow approach to addressing NCDs and the continued dominance of reductionist biomedical and individual-level paradigms. The second is the involvement of corporate actors, contributing to the ‘NCD-genic’ environment. With the accelerating momentum of economic globalization and its expanding worldwide footprint, commercial determinants of health are becoming an increasingly dominant force shaping global patterns of public and planetary health, including disparities in health within and between nations.

Commercial determinants of health arise in the context of the provision of goods or services for payment and include commercial activities and the environment in which commerce takes place. They can affect people’s health, directly or indirectly, positively or negatively; and through a variety of factors – environmental, political, social, behavioural, cultural, and economic. To improve global health and well-being and foster societal progress, commercial entities must undergo a transformation from profit-at-any-cost models to ones that embrace social and environmental responsibility. Such transformation entails a commitment to adhering to regulations aimed at preventing harmful practices and products, as well as abandoning opposition to public health policies that may threaten their power or profits.

This plenary will discuss the role of the commercial sector in global health and the value of a systems approach to understanding NCDs as outcomes of intricate systems.

Moderators

• Josep Figueras, Director European Observatory on Health Systems and Policies
• Nicole Mauer, European Observatory on Health Systems and Policies

Keynote speaker

• Iveta Nagyova, President EUPHA and Head of the Department of Social and Behavioural Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, PJ Safarik University, Kosice, Slovakia

Speakers/Panellists

• • Mark Petticrew, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, London, United Kingdom
  • Amandine Garde, University of Liverpool, United Kingdom; President EUPHA Law and public health section
  • Simon Bacon, Concordia University, Montreal, Canada
  • Caroline Cerny, Policy & Engagement Director, Bite Back 2030
  • Gauden Galea, Strategic Adviser to the WHO Regional Director for Europe, Special Initiative on NCDs and Innovation

Background

Background

Equitable, patient-centred approaches are at the centre of WHO/Europe’s regional digital health action plan 2023-2030[1] which was approved by Member States of the European Region at the 72nd session of the WHO Regional Committee. The Action Plan specifically identifies the need for WHO to “identify and examine the main impacts that gender and equity present in the adoption and scaling of digital health solutions in the Region.”

The session will be organised as a round table discussion to examine inequalities with regard to access to, and the use of data and digital technologies in health care and public health. Panellists will firstly discuss the factors which give rise to inequalities in access and use of data and digital technologies in health and then examine strategies for how the digital transformation of health systems going forward can address these barriers. They will be asked to reflect on the future of digital health systems in Europe and the ethical, policy, legal and technical actions required to ensure trust, safety and equitable access to health services and data digitally.

Finally, in line with the theme of the conference, panellists will be asked to extend the discussion to reflect upon the use of digital technologies in the context of sustainability and how the public health community can drive thinking around the agenda for the green digitalization of health.

Moderator

• Natasha Azzopardi Muscat, Director Division of Country Health Policies and Systems, WHO Regional Office for Europe

Speakers/Panellists

• Alisha Davies, Head of Research and Development, Public Health Wales, United Kingdom
• Anna Odone, Full Professor of Public Health, University of Pavia, Italy; President EUPHA Digital health section
• David Novillo Ortiz, Regional Adviser, Data and Digital Health, WHO Regional Office for Europe
• Jerome de Barros, Policy Officer, Digital Health unit, Health and Food Safety Directorate General, European Commission

[1] Regional digital health action plan for the WHO European Region 2023–2030

Background

The European Commission has launched a public debate on the health priorities of the European Union in partnership with the European Observatory on Health Systems and Policies. The recent crises have underlined the necessity for more investment and cooperation in health. But what should be the priorities? Where can the EU support Member States most effectively?

This Plenary session will present first inputs garnered during interactive events (including an earlier workshop held at the EPH Conference) and stimulate further exchanges to inform the health policy priorities at European level. The plenary is one of a series of public events designed to gather perspectives, generate ideas, and share experiences. We will present first insights coming from the debate will digging deep into key priority topics, including addressing the determinants of health, enhancing health security, supporting the digitalization and transformation of health systems, strengthening health systems, and addressing critical challenges such as climate change and population ageing.

As the European elections and a new mandate draw closer, these debates seek to generate and explore new ideas on how the EU can continue to support European health systems and contribute towards safeguarding health moving forward.

Moderator

• Josep Figueras, Director European Observatory on Health Systems and Policies

Speakers/Panellists

• Isabel de la Mata, Principal Adviser for Health and Crisis Management, Health and Food Safety Directorate General, European Commission
• Martin McKee, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, United Kingdom
• Matthias Wismar, European Observatory on Health Systems and Policies

Moderator

• Anthony Staines, Chair of the 16^th EPH Conference 2023

Video address

• • Mary Robinson, former President of Ireland, former UN High Commissioner for Human Rights and founder Mary Robinson Foundation – Climate Justice

Speakers

• Paul O’Brien, Irish Farmers Association, Ireland
• John Cuddihy, National Director of Public Health, Department of Public Health, Health Service Executive, Ireland

Award Ceremony: Best Poster, Best Abstract, Ference Bojan Award

• Charlotte Marchandise, Executive Director EUPHA

Welcome to the 17th EPH Conference 2024, Lisbon, Portugal

• Ricardo Mexia, Chair of the 17th EPH Conference 2024