policy

“Public health surveillance is the bedrock of outbreak and epidemic response”. With these words, Marie-Paule Kieny – WHO Assistant Director-General for Health Systems and Innovation – introduces the WHO guidelines on ethical issues in public health surveillance, a document targeted to a wide range of stakeholders involved in the constant monitoring of health threats.

European Institute of Women’s Health. February 2013.

Traditionally regarded as a male disease, cardiovascular disease (CVD) is the number one killer of women worldwide. It also is a major cause of serious illness and disability, costly to healthcare systems and destroying women’s quality of life. In the EU, CVD remains the top cause of death for women in each of the twenty-seven EU countries. Only during the last decades has awareness been rising how CVD affects women differently from men, alerting women to their risk. 

Gender issue in clinical trials in Europe

Internationally, the issue of including women in clinical trials of medicines has been addressed in various guidelines issued by the International Conference on Harmonization (ICH), which promotes regulatory standards for clinical trials. While ICH has specific guidelines on the conduct of clinical trials in paediatric and geriatric populations, there are no consolidated guidelines for the investigation of medicinal product in women.

The ENGENDER Project. October 2011.

Taking Action to Improve the Evidence Base for Policies by Changing Gender Imbalances in the Content and Process of Health Research. 

What are the mechanisms behind gender imbalances in the contents and processes of health research?
Gender discrimination and bias not only affects differentials in health needs, health seeking behaviour, treatment, and health outcomes but also influences the content and the process of health research.

 

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Mühlenbruch B, Jochimsen MA. Nature. 2013 Mar 7;495(7439):40-2. 

Providing equal opportunities for women in science requires change at every level, argue Brigitte Mühlenbruch and Maren A. Jochimsen.

Gender-equality policy in science at European regional and national level has come a long way, thanks to more than 20 years of efforts by women scientists and far-sighted politicians. Yet progress is slow. The pipeline is still leaking and female researchers still hit glass ceilings.

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European Commission. 2016. Behavioural Insights Applied to Policy – European Report 2016.

The recent case of the French parents who risked a jail sentence for refusing to vaccinate their children reignited the intense debate over mandatory vaccinations, whose efficacy as an instrument to maintain high level of vaccine coverage has been questioned.

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MMLAP and other EU Projects

Health system analysis to support capacity development in response to the threat of pandemic influenza in Asia
Making society an active participant in water adaptation to global change
Public Participation in Developing a Common Framework for Assessment and Management of Sustainable Innovation
Engaging all of Europe in shaping a desirable and sustainable future
Expect the unexpected and know how to respond
Driving innovation in crisis management for European resilience
Effective communication in outbreak management: development of an evidence-based tool for Europe
Solutions to improve CBRNe resilience
Network for Communicable Disease Control in Southern Europe and Mediterranean Countries
Developing the framework for an epidemic forecast infrastructure
Strengthening of the national surveillance system for communicable diseases
Surveillance of vaccine preventable hepatitis
European monitoring of excess mortality for public health action
European network for highly infectious disease
Dedicated surveillance network for surveillance and control of vaccine preventable diseases in the EU
Modelling the spread of pandemic influenza and strategies for its containment and mitigation
Cost-effectiveness assessment of european influenza human pandemic alert and response strategies
Bridging the gap between science, stakeholders and policy makers
Promotion of immunization for health professionals in Europe
Towards inclusive research programming for sustainable food innovations
Addressing chronic diseases and healthy ageing across the life cycle
Medical ecosystem – personalized event-based surveillance
Studying the many and varied economic, social, legal and ethical aspects of the recent developments on the Internet, and their consequences for the individual and society at large
Get involved in the responsible marine research and innovation
Knowledge-based policy-making on issues involving science, technology and innovation, mainly based upon the practices in Parliamentary Technology Assessment
Assessment of the current pandemic preparedness and response tools, systems and practice at national, EU and global level in priority areas
Analysis of innovative public engagement tools and instruments for dynamic governance in the field of Science in Society
Public Engagement with Research And Research Engagement with Society
Computing Veracity – the Fourth Challenge of Big Data
Providing infrastructure, co-ordination and integration of existing clinical research networks on epidemics and pandemics
Promote vaccinations among migrant population in Europe
Creating mechanisms for effectively tackling the scientific and technology related challenges faced by society
Improve the quality of indoor air, keeping it free from radon
Improving respect of ethics principles and laws in research and innovation, in line with the evolution of technologies and societal concerns
Investigating how cities in the West securitise against global pandemics
Creating a structured dialogue and mutual learning with citizens and urban actors by setting up National Networks in 10 countries across Europe
Identifying how children can be change agents in the Science and Society relationship
Establishing an open dialogue between stakeholders concerning synthetic biology’s potential benefits and risks
Transparent communication in Epidemics: Learning Lessons from experience, delivering effective Messages, providing Evidence