The fourth edition of the EU Health Prize for Journalists has awarded prizes for the following articles:
![]() |
First Prize
Petr Třešňák: “Adventures in ward 14 This article highlights the important subject of mental health: the situation in psychiatric hospitals and the vital role nurses can play in helping the recovery of difficult cases. |
![]() |
2nd prize
Ailbhe Jordan: “Is screening a waste of cash? The article presents an objective and timely look at the cost/effectiveness of cancer screening programmes, which is particularly pertinent given the current economic context. |
![]() |
3rd prize
Daniela Cipolloni: “All those lies spread by private umbilical-cord blood banks This article contributes to the debate on umbilical-cord blood banks and the use of stem cells, which is especially valuable as this area is subject to different approaches and divergent views across the EU. |
![]() |
Special Prize on smoking cessation
Tobias Zick: “Thick air The article presents a comprehensive overview of tobacco use and smoking cessation issues in Germany, covering history, politics, law and philosophy. It shows that health policies can have a big impact. |
Read also the articles of the edition 2012 finalists.
This year again, the Prize has contributed to stimulate high-quality journalism that raises awareness on issues related to health and patient-related policy initiatives at EU level. For this edition, the topic "active and healthy ageing" has been integrated into the competition to mark the "European Year for Active Ageing and Solidarity between Generations". For the second time, a special prize was awarded for articles on “smoking cessation”. Showcased in the glossy booklet
(3 MB) are the 26 nominated articles in the general section and the 15 nominated articles for the special prize (in English only).
In 2012, 394 journalists from all 27 EU countries participated in the competition submitting 557 eligible articles published in printed or on-line media between 25 July 2011 and 31 July 2012.
The first EU Health Prize for Journalists was awarded in 2009. The winners of the past editions are:
- 2011: Ben Hirschler and Kate Kelland (United Kingdom), with an article on antimicrobial resistance "When the drugs don't work
(79 KB)", published by Reuters. - 2010: Gianluca Ferraris and Ilaria Molinari (Italy), with an article on stem cells "Stealing hope
(44 KB)
italiano (it) ", published in Panorama. - 2009: Estelle Saget (France), with the article "Schizophrenia explained to family and friends
(127 KB)
français (fr) ", published in L'Express.
The EU Health Prize for Journalists is funded under the second Community Health Programme 2008-13.





