European Public Health Association

The European Public Health Association (EUPHA) is an umbrella organisation for public health associations and institutes in Europe. EUPHA is an international, multidisciplinary, scientific organisation, bringing together around 14’000 public health experts for professional exchange and collaboration throughout Europe.[1]

European Public Health Association
Founded1992
Utrecht, Netherlands
TypeNon-governmental organization
FocusPublic health
Location
Area served
Europe
Methodresearch, lobbying
Members
14,000 (2014)
Key people
Websitewww.eupha.org

Its central office is based at the NIVEL (Nederlands instituut voor onderzoek van de gezondheidszorg) in Utrecht, Netherlands.[2]

History and mission

EUPHA was founded in 1992 by 15 members (12 countries). EUPHA’s mission is to facilitate and activate a strong voice of the public health network by enhancing visibility of the evidence and by strengthening the capacity of public health professionals.

Strategy

In November 2014, EUPHA Governing Board approved a new 2014-2020 strategy. According to the new strategy, EUPHA has three main objectives:

  1. To be a leading scientific and independent voice in the field of public health and health services research and policy;
  2. To build capacity and knowledge in the field of public health and health services research with the aim of supporting evidence-informed practice and policy decisions; and
  3. To prepare future generations of engaged and connected public health professionals for their leadership role in public health.

Members

EUPHA has two sorts of membership: full membership, which is open for national public health associations in Europe (WHO/EURO definition of Europe) and the associate membership, open for individuals, international NGOs and public health institutions. In 2014, EUPHA has 71 members from 40 countries:

  • 41 national associations of public health
  • 18 institutional members
  • 8 European NGOs
  • 4 individual members

Organizational components

Structure

EUPHA is a member-based organization. The members are represented in the Governing Board, which is responsible for approving the annual report on the activities of the Executive Council, the annual financial report, the work plan and budget for the coming year, as presented by the Executive Council, and the decision to create, dissolve, merge or split EUPHA sections. The Executive Council is charged with the management of the association and is assisted by EUPHA office.

Sections

EUPHA encourages the creation of sections for specific public health themes, which are international and open to all public health professionals. The goal is to bring together researchers, policymakers and practitioners working in the same field for knowledge sharing and capacity building. At the moment EUPHA has 19 operational sections and one proposed section:

  • Child and adolescent public health
  • Chronic diseases
  • Environment related disease
  • Ethics in public health
  • Food and nutrition
  • Health impact assessment
  • Health promotion
  • Health services research
  • Health technology assessment
  • Infectious diseases control
  • Injury prevention and safety promotion
  • Migrant and ethnic minority health
  • Public health economics
  • Public health epidemiology
  • Public health genomics
  • Public health monitoring and reporting
  • Public health practice and policy
  • Public mental health
  • Social security and health
  • Urban public health

Pillars

In order to better support the activities of EUPHA and to include all aspects of public health, EUPHA has created four pillars to link EUPHA sections and EUPHA members. These pillars reflect the four working areas of public health: research, policy, practice and training and education.

EUPHAnxt

EUPHAnxt is a network for students, young researchers, policymakers and professionals in the field of public health. The special EUPHAnxt subscriber status is accessible for all those under 35 years old. The aim of this initiative is to sensitize and involve students, young researchers, practitioners and policymakers interested in European public health issues into the European and multidisciplinary network of public health associations. In July 2014, EUPHAnxt has around 800 subscribers.[3]

European Public Health Conference

EUPHA has been organising annual scientific conferences since 1992. The first conference was held in Paris in December 1992. Since 2008 the annual conference name was changed to "European Public Health Conference", as the conferences are a joint effort with national public health associations and international partners. In 2014, the 7th European Public Health Conference "Mind the gap: Reducing inequalities in health and health care" took place in Glasgow, Scotland, UK, from 19 to 22 November. The 8th European Public Health Conference "Health in Europe – from global to local: policies, methods and practices" will be held in Milan, Italy from 14 to 17 October 2015.[4]

Publications

European Journal of Public Health
Main article: European Journal of Public Health

EUPHA publishes a bi-monthly scientific journal together with Oxford University Press. The European Journal of Public Health is a multidisciplinary journal in the field of public health, publishing contributions from social medicine, epidemiology, health services research, management, ethics and law, health economics, social sciences and environmental health. The EJPH is published bimonthly. The journal provides a forum for discussion and debate of current international public health issues with a focus on the European region. In 2013, the impact factor of the journal increased to 2.516 (5-yr impact factor: 2.928).[5]

Past presidents
  • Prof Walter Ricciardi, Italy (2010-2014)
  • Prof Stanislaw Tarkowski, Poland (2010)
  • Prof Constantino Sakellarides, Portugal(2009)
  • Prof Ilmo Keskimäki, Finland (2008)
  • Prof John-Paul Vader, Switzerland (2007)
  • Prof Horst Noack, Austria (2006)
  • Prof Gunnar Tellnes, Norway (2005)
  • Prof Walter Ricciardi, Italy (2004)
  • Prof Wilhelm Kirch, Germany (2003)
  • Dr Viviane Van Casteren, Belgium (2002)
  • Prof Marc Brodin, France (2000-2001)
  • Prof Alena Petráková, Sweden (1999)
  • Prof Peter Allebeck, Sweden (1998)
  • Prof Carlos Alvarez-Dardet, Spain (1997)
  • Prof Klim McPherson, United Kingdom (1996)
  • Prof Ferenc Bojan, Hungary (1995)
  • Mrs Louise Gunning-Schepers, Netherlands (1992-1994)

References and notes
  1. http://www.eupha.org
  2. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2011-07-20. Retrieved 2011-03-20.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  3. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2014-08-08. Retrieved 2014-08-01.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  4. http://www.ephconference.eu/
  5. http://www.oxfordjournals.org/our_journals/eurpub/about.html
  • – official website
  • - Website of the European Journal of Public Health
  • - Website of the European Public Health Conference
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