Plenary sessions Stockholm 2017

The theme for the 10th EPH Conference is Sustaining resilient and healthy communities. Many European communities face new challenges in the provision of preventive and curative services. Migration, ageing populations, climate change, political upheavals and austerity measures all threaten the provision of high quality and equitable services. People’s opportunities for a healthy life are closely linked to the socio-economic conditions in which they live. Resilient and empowered communities respond better to economic, social and environmental change. Communities that remain disadvantaged also remain behind in health outcomes and other social determinants. People need to be empowered to manage their health more pro-actively, chose healthy lifestyles and make informed choices.

The current problems in many European countries caused by the economic crisis coupled with structural changes in demography and disease patterns call for the reform and modernisation of public health, health services and social care systems. The problems are set against a context of changing values and expectations on our social systems.

Innovations – new combinations of practices and approaches developed to better address social needs and expectations – need to be developed and implemented throughout health and social care systems. New modes of collaboration between the public and privates sector are needed.

Investing in people’s health helps improve the health of the population and contributes to productivity, employability and growth, factors essential to sustainable development and resilience of societies in times of challenging environmental and social changes. Reducing health inequalities contributes to social cohesion and breaks the vicious spiral of poor health and poor socio-economic conditions.

The 10th European Public Conference offers a great opportunity to discuss these issues in more detail among researchers, policy makers and practitioners.

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

Moderator

Birger Forsberg, Chair of the 10th European Public Health Conference

Speakers/Panellists

Ola Rosling, Gapminder, Sweden, in commemoration of Hans Rosling

Agneta Karlsson, State Secretary to the Minister for Health Care, Public Health and Sport, Sweden

Claudia Stein, WHO Regional Office for Europe

Background

Growing levels of health and socio-economic inequalities reflect that our market economies are not delivering well-being in a fair and effective manner, generating feelings of injustice and fueling social and political instability. Changes in the labour markets lead to new risks in terms of social rights, working conditions, gender inequalities and access to welfare. Young people in particular are affected. Poor health is often both a consequence and causal factor for unemployment or poverty. It is time to modernize our social protection policies and systems in order to reflect our changing societies and make them more resilient and healthy. How can we ensure adequate and appropriate social investments? How can we guarantee equity and effectiveness in service delivery? How can we measure the progress we make towards sustainable societies and achieve the Sustainable Development Goals that Europe signed up to? The need to strengthen the social dimension of the EU, to avoid widening socio-economic and related health inequalities within and between Member States and to share our common wealth, is clearer today than ever before.

Moderator

Caroline Costongs, EuroHealthNet

Keynote speaker

Karl Falkenberg, Senior Adviser to the European Political Strategy Centre (EPSC), European Commission

Panellists

• Gaetan Lafortune, Senior Economist at the Health Division, OECD (presentation)
• Clare Bambra, Professor of Public Health at the Institute of Health & Society, Newcastle University, United Kingdom
• Taru Koivisto, Director of the Department for Promotion of Welfare and Health, Ministry of Social Affairs and Health, Finland

Moderator

Natasha Azzopardi Muscat, EUPHA President

Speakers/Panellists

• Aaron Reeves, London School of Economics, United Kingdom (presentation part 1 and part 2)
• Holly Jarman, School of Public Health, University of Michigan, USA (presentation)
• Erio Ziglio, former WHO Regional Office for Europe (presentation)
• Anna Sarkadi, Swedish Association of Social Medicine, Sweden
• Dineke Zeegers Paget, EUPHA

Background

How do European or global health policies address the issue of leadership development in order to achieve sustainable health? This session will raise the awareness and stir the debate around the importance, challenges, qualities and needs of contemporary public health leadership and leaders in a global and local context. The panel participants will be asked to reflect on their leadership experience with commentary from the research and evidence perspective.

Moderators

Background

There is increasing evidence about the content and impact of a wide range of health and health system innovations. However, there is still substantial uncertainty about what are the key drivers and enablers in introducing successful innovation; and more specifically, about the broader contextual factors that very often account for implementation success. In short, the plenary will provide insights and lessons on successful health system transformation focusing on how to create a receptive context for innovation. The plenary session will draw on the evidence for the forthcoming WHO Ministerial Conference ‘Health Systems for Prosperity and Solidarity; Leaving no one behind’ in Tallinn 13-14 June 2018.

Moderator

David Hunter, Newcastle University, United Kingdom

Speakers

• Hans Kluge, WHO Regional Office for Europe (presentation)
• Walter Ricciardi, National Institute of Health, Italy (presentation)

Panellists

• Josep Figueras, European Observatory on Health Systems and Policies
• Natasha Azzopardi Muscat, EUPHA President
• Anna Korotkova, Federal Research Institute for Health, Ministry of Health, Russian Federation

Background

Public health emergencies appeal to the public’s right to be prepared and involved at various stages. In this respect, emergencies that can be timely anticipated upon constitute a better opportunity to promote community participation in the preparedness stage, compared to full-blown crises. The best example of an imminent emergency that allows for timely community involvement and creation of strong community resilience is the threat of antibiotic resistance. This plenary focuses on practical ways and theoretical approaches on how to prepare communities for public health emergencies.

Moderators

• Karl Ekdahl, ECDC
• Aura Timen, President EUPHA Section on Infectious diseases control

Speakers/panellists

• Andrea Ammon, European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC)
• Dominique Monnet, Antimicrobial Resistance and Healthcare-Associated Infections (ARHAI) Programme, ECDC
• Jaap van Dissel, Centre for Infectious Disease Control, National Institute for Public Health and the Environment (RIVM), The Netherlands
• Qudsia Huda, World Health Organization

Speakers

Carolina Klüft, Generation Pep, Sweden – From athletics to health promotion – founded on evidence, successful through passion

Ivan Erzen, Chair of the 11th European Public Health Conference – Welcome to Ljubljana 2018