European Public Health News

In this European public health news, the focus is on capacity building, within and beyond our network of public health professionals using old and new communication methods. Communication on health financing (Jakab), tobacco (Spanou) or communication in itself (Zeegers) is an essential part of European public health. Communication should be tailored to the audience you are trying to reach, keeping in mind that the pragmatic and creative solutions should reach beyond your usual network. In addition, there are some excellent pragmatic and creative examples in the contributions below.


Introduction
I n this European public health news, the focus is on capacity building, within and beyond our network of public health professionals using old and new communication methods. Communication on health financing (Jakab), tobacco (Spanou) or communication in itself (Zeegers) is an essential part of European public health. Communication should be tailored to the audience you are trying to reach, keeping in mind that the pragmatic and creative solutions should reach beyond your usual network. In addition, there are some excellent pragmatic and creative examples in the contributions below.

President's column
European public health at work EUPHA has two big events in a year. The most important is-of course-the European Public Health Conference, this year in Malta. This is where we meet our members, present our annual report and decide on the activities in the year to come. This is where public health in Europe is presented in research, practice, policy and training. This is where European public health is created, encouraged and further developed. The conference creates a positive boost for EUPHA, a sense of belonging together and a general European public health feeling.
The second event is smaller, but also very important. It is the June meeting, where we combine the planning of the conference, the Executive Council meeting and the Section Council meeting. The nice thing about the June meeting is that it has a relaxed and cosy atmosphere. In fact, it is the perfect opportunity to spend several days together with key people in our organization, without everybody being busy with conference activities. This year, our June meeting was co-organized with the Maltese Association of Public Health Medicine. The weather in Malta was beautiful, the location as well, and this all created the EUPHA feeling. In this setting, we managed to organize an intense brainstorming on our activities and on our future. The Maltese Association of Public Health Medicine had organized several social and cultural events, which contributed to the productiveness of the June meeting.
The EUPHA feeling was clear with our section presidents/vice-presidents, EUPHA office and our Executive Council members. There is a general consensus about the role of EUPHA in Europe: capacity, knowledge and policy building, assisting our members where we can and being the spokesperson for our members at the European and even global level. We discussed several ideas on how to achieve our role, about what is missing and what could be further developed. The discussions were open and honest, and the outcome produced a clear sense of direction.
These two events are examples of the European public health at work. In both events, public health professionals come from all over Europe (and beyond) and from different disciplines. Putting them together for 3-4 days in a nice location with a comprehensive programme, creates a synergy that benefits all. It is here that we practice public health beyond the borders-of countries and of disciplines. It is here that we can influence policy; it is here that European public health both works and is at work. So don't miss being part of this public health movement.

Professor Walter Ricciardi EUPHA President
EUPHA office column T he important communications from both WHO/EURO and the European Commission include the need to reach the widest audience possible for our activities. New ways of communicating public health are essential. WHO/EURO used web streaming to increase their audience; the European Commission created an online platform. Public health professionals need to include these new ways of communication to reach beyond their field, as well as to reach the younger generation.
Communication will have an increasingly critical role in all levels of public health.
EUPHA has been and is looking into new ways of communication. Within our EUPHAnxt project-for the younger public health professionals-we created both a Facebook page and a Twitter account. The European Public Health Conferences have done the same. To reach policymakers, EUPHA created the two-page summaries on important public health issues (EUPHActs and EUPHA snapshots). In addition, our Think tank-a committee installed by the Executive Council to discuss the next 5-year strategy of EUPHAspecifically focuses on communication.
At the Malta 2012 conference, EUPHA will be organizing two 'communication events': In our Member Forum (Wednesday, 7 November), we organize a 'do it yourself media' crash course. It will teach the audience basic skills on press releases and other media activities. In our workshop 'A little bird told me', we are presenting examples of using Twitter, using a blog and using short films to interact with the widest audience possible.
Despite all these new ways of communicating; however, we should not forget the definition of communication: 'the exchanging of information by speaking, writing, or using some other medium'. Communication is a two-way street-it is not only providing information but also the exchange of information. Capacity building is all about information exchange, about telling AND listening. It should not be limited to a 'one-way street'. In developing new ways of communicating with the widest audience possible, we should also think about including possibilities to answer, react and reflect. Without this, even the most innovative technology will not ensure real communication.
EUPHA is dedicated to listening: to our members, to our partners and to ourselves. Only then will our new ways of communication become effective.

MESSAGE FROM THE WHO REGIONAL DIRECTOR FOR EUROPE
Reaching out to Member States on efforts to build capacity in health systems D uring the week of 14 May 2012, 49 senior health officials and policymakers from 22 Member States in the WHO European Region attended the second Barcelona Course on Health Financing, conducted by the WHO Regional Office for Europe's specialized centre for health financing in Spain. The course gives participants the time and space to reflect on a core aspect of strengthening health systems and draws on many years of countries' experience in implementing health financing reforms.
This year, for the first time, several of the sessions were streamed live over the Internet, reaching out to a much broader audience. The first of the presentations provided an overview of health gain in the European Region resulting from large-scale public health interventions and new medical technologies, efforts which led to both an improvement and convergence of health status across the European Region. During the past 30 years, however, health gains have diverged, with growing inequalities across countries. These are largely explained by systems' varying capacity to adapt to the changing burden of disease, particularly the growth of non-communicable diseases, and to adopt and diffuse new interventions resulting from advances in medicine.
The new European policy framework for health and well-being, Health 2020, aims to reinvigorate the actions of governments across the European Region, both through and beyond their health systems, and the Barcelona Course offered a unique chance for participants to share their experience and discuss future strategies. Web streaming enabled almost 600 additional interested people to listen to the opening and keynote sessions and submit questions for the speakers electronically. In addition, events were held at the Regional Office in Copenhagen and a number of WHO country offices to discuss how some of the key issues can be taken forward in a concrete manner.
WHO will make increasing use of such technology to strengthen its capacity-building efforts and to reach out to as many people as it can to strengthen health systems, improve health and reduce inequalities across the Member States of the European region. Zsuzsanna Jakab Regional Director WHO Regional Director for Europe 'EX-SMOKERS ARE UNSTOPPABLE': A NEW CAMPAIGN TO SOLVE AN OLD PROBLEM L ast autumn, officials and top health experts met in New York at the General Assembly of the United Nations' (UN GA) high-level meeting to adopt a political declaration on noncommunicable diseases (NCDs). 1 This was only the second time in history of UN GA that health was addressed after the meeting on AIDS in 2001. 2 This only demonstrates the importance that addressing NCDs has taken worldwide.
NCDs are the leading cause of mortality in the world, being responsible for 63% of deaths each year. 3 Out of the four risk factors (tobacco use, insufficient physical activity, harmful use of alcohol and unhealthy diet) leading to NCDs, tobacco use remains the most dominant, with 6 million deaths annually. 4 In the EU, tobacco is still the single largest cause of avoidable deaths, accounting for around 695 000 premature deaths per year. 5 In the time of financial crisis, the need to improve health and prevent disease caused by tobacco is also an essential element of maintaining stability and sustainability in the European health systems.
The most recent Eurobarometer survey on tobacco 5 shows that today 28% of the EU population smoke. It was also found that 61% of current smokers have attempted to quit smoking, and, of those, 66% did not use any form of assistance. These figures show the importance of having a professional tool that allows this 66% of EU's smokers to overcome their addiction at their own pace.
After the 'Help' smoking prevention campaign, 6  It targets individuals aged between 25 and 34 years. The central feature of the campaign is that the key messages are adapted to their reality, and tools used are the ones that they engage in. As opposed to traditional campaigns, the central message of 'Ex-Smokers are Unstoppable' emphasizes the benefits of quitting smoking rather than the risks associated with it. It highlights the inspirational achievements of ex-smokers to motivate smokers to stop.
In the two TV clips launched last year, viewers follow the stories of two people who quit smoking to achieve personal goals-run in a marathon and become a mother ('Marathon' and 'Pregnant',http://ec.europa. eu/health/tobacco/ex_smokers_are_unstoppable/index_en.htm). The rationale of this approach is that the target group is mature enough to be aware of the risks but considers their effects to be far from them. Motivating them with real life stories of their peers brings them closer to the goal of the campaign.
They then have the opportunity to use the innovative online platform, iCoach (http://www .stopsmokingcoach.eu/users/register.

608
European Journal of Public Health ashx?code=ICOACHSMOKE&lang=lf), which provides smokers with free practical advice based on data they introduce. This data shows that the majority of iCoach users identify a 'lack of confidence' as a major barrier to quitting, underlining the value of the motivational aspect of the campaign.
The Scientific Steering group of experts provide the content of the advice that goes into the details of the risks and negative effects of smoking. This dual approach, i.e. first motivating and then advising, aims to lead to as many as 28 million of the 24 -to 35-year olds who smoke in the EU to quit.
So far, the campaign has reached >300 million EU citizens through advertising (print, online and broadcast) and social media (data from the monitoring reports prepared by the contractor). The campaign is promoted by a website (www.exsmokers.eu), which exists in all EU languages, 27 national Facebook pages (http://www.facebook.com/ Unstoppable.uk) and national activities across the 27 Member States, including event partnerships and media relations. To create synergies, the campaign complements similar initiatives in the EU countries.
The iCoach and the 'Ex-Smokers are Unstoppable' campaign have achieved considerable success, with more than 200 000 iCoach registrations to date. This means that more than one in every 700 smokers across the EU is trying to quit smoking by using this tool.
Why is this important? Because overcoming what is scientifically proven to be an addiction has multiple beneficial effects: for the individual and for the society, for people's well-being during the longest part of their lives and for the survival of healthcare systems that are overburdened by NCDs.  Decisions taken regarded the numerous abstracts in -we have received 875 abstracts from 58 countries. The international scientific committee had evaluated the abstracts during the month of May. On average, each abstract was scored by 7.1 scorers, while each workshop had 6.8 scorers. The average score achieved (out of 5) for single presentations was 3.364.
The highest score was 4.750 while the lowest was 1.250. The average score for workshops was 3.227. The highest score was 4.833, the lowest 1.429. In the meeting, the cut-off points (below which submissions were ineligible) were decided: For workshops: 3.500. For oral presentations: 3.668. For poster presentations: 2.857.
During this meeting held at St.Julian's near the venue for the November conference, the local organising committee and the conference secretariat organised a detailed planning meeting and the conference venue was visited again to clarify room allocations, exhibition space, etc.
All in all, we look back at a very pleasant and constructive June meeting and are now confident that the November conference will be a wonderful place to present, meet, network and enjoy each other's company.
Don't forget to register for the conference at http://www.eupha.org/site/upcoming_ conference.php?conference_page=55. The deadline for early bird registration is 15 September 2012. We look forward to welcoming you to Malta for the 5th European Public Health conference.