Written By Clémentine Richer Delforge
European Public Health Alliance (EPHA)

Ahead of the elections, European Public Health Alliance (EPHA) has published its manifesto “Strengthening public health across the European Union – A closer look at EPHA’s priorities ahead of the European elections“.

This document follows up on EPHA’s key priorities published in June 2023, and highlights key, actionable measures to be put in place and implement those priorities. Overall, the manifesto asks for health to be prioritised on the political agenda and in the next European Parliament and European Commission mandate.

Among those specific calls, the need for a strong commitment to health from the institutions is stressed. This would require for instance a dedicated European Commission Vice-President on Public Health, Social Rights and Wellbeing, a more powerful SANT Committee in the European Parliament and an ambitious budget for strong health promotion and disease prevention policies. The manifesto also stresses the importance of health equity, as well as the need to address challenges that health systems are currently facing, in particular, health workforce shortages. Furthermore, the document calls for policy silos to be broken down, and for public health to be considered in all policies. Following a One Health approach, the manifesto recommends considering public health together with environmental and climate change issues in policymaking. This is essential to address determinants of health, and challenges such as non-communicable diseases and anti-microbial resistance. Finally, strong support should be provided to civil society to play their part, with a Civil Society Strategy.

EPHA Manifesto

More specifically, the manifesto is structured around five core priorities:

• Priority 1: Keeping health as a top priority on the EU political agenda
• Priority 2: Providing the means for an ambitious EU health policy
• Priority 3: Ensuring equal access to health and care
• Priority 4: Enhancing civil society participation in health policymaking
• Priority 5: Securing a healthy planet for healthy people.

Clémentine Richer Delforge
European Public Health Alliance (EPHA)