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Issue 13,
April
2008
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World Health Day 2008: “protecting health from climate change”
By Dr. Bettina Menne, WHO Regional Office for Europe
Traditionally, the climate change debate has been centred on issues such as the environmental and economic consequences of global warming; however, an aspect of the problem which should be at the core of the public agenda is the impact of climate change on human health. Many countries in Europe have already experienced significant climate change related events, leading to tens of thousands of deaths, and estimates predict more deaths from, for example, extreme weather.
The WHO Regional Office for Europe is engaged in developing partnerships to strengthen the support for its Member States in responding to the new threats to health posed by climate change. As more than half of these countries are also EU Member States the European Commission is a key partner. This is evident in a number of co-funded projects: EuroHEAT carried out an assessment of the health impact of heat-waves and promoted development of early-warning tools and action plans; other projects include the European Flood Alert System, PHEWE, cCASHh, Eden, and MircoDYS.
This World Health Day, dedicated to “protecting health from climate change”, provides an opportunity for us all to place health at the centre of local, national and international dialogues, and to raise awareness of current and potential climate-related threats to health.
Recognizing the importance of sharing the WHO agenda with the EU and EU-related stakeholders, WHO/Europe has chosen Brussels as one of the two European spots for this year’s campaign on the World Health Day and we welcome you to join us!
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European cooperation for more organ donors
The European Parliament's Committee on Environment, Public Health and Food Safety adopted the report on 'Organ donation and transplantation'.
HeartCycle Project Sets Out to Create Innovative Telemonitoring Solutions
Clothes, bed sheets and home appliances could soon help heart patients to better deal with their condition. The new EU-funded HeartCycle project sets out to create innovative telemonitoring solutions.
Launch of an Open Consultation on Patient Safety
The Commission launched a public consultation in relation to its plans for a proposal on patient safety later in 2008
Capacity planning in health care: a review of the international experience
Capacity planning in health care: a review of the international experience, from the European Observatory on Health Systems and Polices, looks at approaches in nine countries to capacity planning, a crucial component of health care governance.
Social spending and healthcare in Europe
European Parliament answers questions on the European social model, European health insurance card, access to healthcare in the EU, progress on outlawing smoking and workplace inclusion for the disabled.
Health-e-Child: e-Healthcare platform for Europe and the World
Health-e-Child (HeC) is working to produce a universal biomedical knowledge repository and communication conduit for the future, a common vehicle by which all clinicians will access, analyse, evaluate, enhance and exchange biomedical data of all forms.
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Germany
Pilot care bases will be inaugurated throughout the country
The aim of this pilot programme is to gain experience in advisory support. Following this introduction phase the Lander will provide a countrywide service for home carers and their patients from July 2008 on.
France
Drug use among adolescents and young adults
Epidemiological monitoring of drug use among adolescents or young adults is a major concern for public policy makers. This article presents the last published results of the French general population surveys, and the trends in the last decade.
Denmark
The Danish eHealth experience: one portal for citizens and professionals
This portal brings together the entire Danish health service on the Internet, making it the electronic gateway for patients, their families and healthcare professionals to obtain information, communicate and maintain an overview.
United Kingdom
National Programme for IT in the NHS Benefits Statement 2006/07
The NHS has introduced new computer systems and services to improve how information is stored and shared in the NHS. This new information technology (IT) provides opportunities for the health service to make changes and deliver better, safer care for patients.
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Europeans put the environment centre stage
Over two-thirds of Europeans prefer policy decisions on the environment to be made at European Union level, according to a Eurobarometer survey.
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ECPC Cancer Patient Summit 2008 (7-8 April 2008)
Under the auspices of the Slovenian EU Presidency, the European Cancer Patient Coalition (ECPC), an umbrella organisation for all cancer patient groups from across Europe, will hold its Cancer Patient Summit.
European Patients' Forum Spring Conference (8-9 April 2008)
The theme of this years’ event is Health Literacy and its implications.
2nd International Congress on Physical Activity and Public Health (13 - 16 April 2008)
The themes of the congress will include e-health, Cost-effectiveness of interventions, Evidence-based policy/practice, Gene-environment interaction, Measurement of physical activity, Community-bases interventions, Injuries in the active population, Sedentary behaviour.
6th European Breast Cancer Conference (15-19 April 2008)
The EBCC conference will provide a platform for clinicians, surgeons and gynecologists, radiotherapists, nurses together with breast cancer advocates and scientists to discuss issues in breast cancer treatment. Sharing knowledge and experiences, exchanging ideas, are the ingredients that will ultimately lead to true progress in the field of breast cancer.
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Young worker safety advice for parents
The European Agency for health and safety at work gives in this small publication some good advice to parents of young workers.
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LifeCompetence
LifeCompetence platform aims to stimulate and accelerate research collaborations between academic and/or industry research groups, thereby leveraging research investments made by European and national governments.
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World Health Day 2008: Protecting Health from Climate Change
Activities at EU level
Health-EU -
Other Non-Communicable Diseases
Health-EU -
Environmental Health
News
Health and Global Environment Change - Heat-waves: risks and responses
A report which addresses the health impact of heat as well as aspects of prevention and adaptation such as heat health warning systems, urban planning elements and aspects of building design.
Other interesting links
European Commission - Extreme Weather Conditions
EuroHeat
HEAL - Health & Environment Alliance
Eionet - European Topic Centre on Air and Climate Change
cCASHh - climate Change and Adaptation Strategies for Human health in Europe
WHO - Climate Change and Human Health
WHO - World Health Day 2008: “protecting health from climate change”
WHO/Europe - Global Change and Health
IPCC - Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change
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