Service delivery models for people with post COVID-19 conditions in selected European countries: summary report

Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) has affected millions of people across the WHO European Region. While the acute phase of the pandemic has passed, it is estimated that 10–20% of those infected with SARS-CoV-2 continue to have symptoms long after their initial illness. Using a tool devised by WHO for collecting data on the management of the post COVID-19 condition (PCC), also known as long COVID, three countries – Israel, Italy and the United Kingdom – and two autonomous regions of Spain – Aragon and Catalonia – collated detailed descriptions of service delivery models that support patients with PCC. This report synthesizes findings from those countries and regions, showing differences and similarities, and concludes with suggestions as to how other health systems can adjust their services to better meet the needs of patients with this debilitating condition.

Tuberculosis surveillance and monitoring in Europe 2024 – 2022 data

This report provides an overview of the latest tuberculosis (TB) epidemiological situation and is published jointly by the WHO Regional Office for Europe and the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control. In 2022, a little over 170 000 incident TB cases were notified in countries of the WHO European Region, a slight increase from 2021. The increase in 2022 is likely due to a good recovery after the COVID-19 pandemic in access to and provision of TB services in many countries and the introduction of active TB case-finding activities. Despite the notable progress achieved in the fight against TB, countries still face various challenges in reaching the goal of ending the TB epidemic in the WHO European Region. Monitoring progress towards the targets of the new Tuberculosis action plan for the WHO European Region 2023–2030 is difficult due to limited or no reporting on some indicators. Further improvement of data completeness and representativeness should be the focus for all countries.

Alcohol taxation and pricing policies and their impact on alcohol consumption in Ukraine from 2011– 2021: country report

This report provides an overview of Ukraine's taxation and pricing policies for alcoholic beverages between 2011 and 2021. The report also provides insights into the health consequences of alcohol consumption and endeavours to establish links and correlations between alcohol taxation, pricing, affordability and decreased consumption. The report aggregates the available data from various sources over the decade and provides commentary on the quality of this evidence. This work was intended to serve as grounding evidence to perform different scenario-building analyses and to further inform decisions for other alcohol taxation policies in Ukraine. Due to the invasion of the Russian Federation of Ukraine, which started on 24 February 2022, these plans were postponed, but it is hoped that they will be resumed as part of country's recovery strategy. The report also provides essential evidence to support the WHO SAFER initiative and promote action plans to reduce the harm done by alcohol.

Prevention and control of antimicrobial resistance in the food chain: guidance for food safety authorities in Europe

In 2011, the WHO Regional Office for Europe launched the publication Tackling antibiotic resistance from a food safety perspective in Europe. The publication explored the options for prevention and containment of antibiotic resistance in the food chain through national coordination and international cooperation. Over the past decade, significant progress has been made and good achievements have been reached. However, foodborne antimicrobial resistance remains an issue in the WHO European Region. Every year, 23 million people fall ill, nearly 5000 people die from unsafe food, and several foodborne disease hazards are showing increasing levels of resistance to commonly used antimicrobials. This publication gives an overview of the current context and recent developments regarding foodborne antimicrobial resistance in the Region. It also explores the role of food safety authorities in reducing antimicrobial resistance and provides updated and practical advice on the prevention and control of antimicrobial resistance at the animal–human–environment interface using the One Health approach, including examples of successful interventions and programmes undertaken by Member States in the Region to prevent and contain antimicrobial resistance in foodborne pathogens. The publication is aimed at policy-makers and food safety authorities working in the public health, agriculture, food production and veterinary sectors in Member States in the Region.

Report on situational analysis results of acute stroke care in Ukraine

Stroke care remains a critical health care priority in Ukraine, with an estimated annual incidence of 130 000 stroke cases and higher mortality rates compared with the average within the WHO European Region. This updated report extends the previous situation report on stroke care in Ukraine (2019–2021) by incorporating recent developments and expanding the analysis to monitor the trends. Leveraging data extracted from the electronic health information system, policy materials review and an assessment of stroke services’ performance, this report benchmarks Ukraine against other countries in the WHO European Region.

Measuring and maximizing public support for health policies: Behavioural and Cultural Insights policy brief series

Public support for health policies is a sometimes overlooked yet essential element of policy development and implementation. Public support influences the likelihood that a policy will be introduced, how likely it is to remain implemented, and its success. This policy brief explores why and how to measure public support, and how to maximize support for evidence-based and effective health policies. Measuring public support not only helps to identify possible barriers to implementation and policy success, but also gives the public a voice in the policy-making process, which can increase trust and improve government–public relations. Many factors influence whether the public support or oppose health policies in specific contexts. Understanding why a specific policy achieves low or high support can inform decisions to change or redesign the policy or to invest in more effective communications. Integrating behavioural and cultural insights at all stages of the policy-making process can help to ensure rigorous research is conducted to inform and evaluate strategies to introduce and implement evidence-based health policies. Understanding the public, giving it a voice, and using these insights to maximize policy support will have a profound effect on bringing about more successful health policies.

WHO Country Cooperation Strategy: Romania 2024–2030

This Country Cooperation Strategy (CCS) has been developed through consultation with the Ministry of Health and other relevant national bodies in Romania. It constitutes a medium-term strategic framework for cooperation between WHO and partners and outlines a shared agenda for priority areas of action over the period 2024–2030, aligned with Romania’s National Health Strategy 2023–2030.

Bericht über die Siebte Ministerkonferenz Umwelt und Gesundheit: Budapest, 5.–7. Juli 2023

Die Siebte Ministerkonferenz Umwelt und Gesundheit fand im Rahmen des Prozesses Umwelt und Gesundheit in Europa (EHP) der Weltgesundheitsorganisation (WHO) vom 5. bis 7. Juli 2023 auf freundliche Einladung der Regierung Ungarns in Budapest statt. Ihr wohnten über 600 hochrangige Delegierte der Mitgliedstaaten, internationaler Interessengruppen, Jugendverbände und nichtstaatlicher Organisationen bei. Während der Konferenz wurde die Erklärung von Budapest angenommen, durch die der Bewältigung gesundheitlicher Herausforderungen vor dem Hintergrund der Corona-Pandemie in Verbindung mit Klimawandel, Umweltverschmutzung, Verlust an Biodiversität und Landdegradation sowie den Themen Führungsfragen und Personalressourcen für Gesundheit Vorrang eingeräumt wird. Die Erklärung sieht als neuen Umsetzungsmechanismus EHP-Partnerschaften vor, von denen die ersten vier zu den Themen Human-Biomonitoring, Klimamaßnahmen des Gesundheitssektors, gesundheitsförderlicher Mobilität und Jugend während der Konferenz auf den Weg gebracht wurden. Die Konferenz behandelte auch die zweite Ausgabe des Berichts „Ohne Enttäuschungen – Ausweitung der Maßnahmen zur Abmilderung des Klimawandels und zur Anpassung an ihn für mehr Gesundheit in der Europäischen Region der WHO“.

Twelfth meeting of the European Regional Verification Commission for Measles and Rubella Elimination: 8–11 September 2023, Copenhagen, Denmark

The Twelfth meeting of the European Regional Verification Commission for Measles and Rubella Elimination (RVC) took place in Copenhagen, Denmark on 8–11 September 2023, to review the 2022 annual status updates (ASUs) from Member States of the WHO European Region. The RVC evaluated 52 national ASUs for 2022 submitted by the countries’ national verification committees. The RVC concluded that, by the end of 2022, 33 Member States had provided evidence to demonstrate that endemic transmission of measles was interrupted for at least 36 months and were thereby verified as having eliminated the disease. Similarly, 49 Member States interrupted endemic rubella transmission for at least 36 months and were verified as having eliminated the disease.

Report of the WHO subregional workshop on border/boundary health and cross-border/boundary collaboration: 21–23 November 2023, Thessaloniki, Greece

Points of entry (PoE), including airports, seaports and ground crossings, are on the front line in helping to prevent, detect and respond to public health events arising via international travel and transport. To improve capacities at PoE, particularly for public health threats of mutual concern, cross-border/boundary collaboration between neighbouring countries, territories and areas reinforces existing capacities by harmonizing resources, strengthening coordination and communication, and joint operations or efforts. This workshop strengthened health systems at PoE by providing a forum to discuss the improvement of border/boundary health and considerations for crossborder/boundary collaboration.

Report of the WHO training on ship sanitation inspection and issuance of ship sanitation certificates. 27-30 November 2023, Istanbul, Türkiye

Points of entry, including ports, are on the front line in helping to prevent, detect and respond to public health events arising via international traffic. To further improve public health capacities at ports and on ships, the WHO Regional Office for Europe organized an in- person training on ship sanitation inspection and issuance of ship sanitation certificates, which focused on the implementation of the International Health Regulation (2005) core capacity requirements at ports to strengthen workforce development for States Parties in the European Region.

Risk communication, community engagement and infodemic management in Ukraine’s emergency response: lifesaving interventions in crisis and beyond: Warsaw, Poland 14–16 November 2023: meeting report

The Risk communication, community engagement and infodemic management in Ukraine's emergency response:lifesaving interventions in crisis and beyond meeting was held in Warsaw, Poland on 14–16 November 2023.Participants from national health authorities, civil society organizations, United Nation agencies and internationalpartners shared, reflected upon, and documented the wealth of knowledge and experience gained during theUkraine emergency response, as well as strategizing on the subsequent phases of the RCCE-IM response to theemergency.

Report on the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the daily routine and behaviours of school-aged children: results from 17 Member States in the WHO European Region

The WHO Regional Office for Europe established the WHO European Childhood Obesity Surveillance Initiative (COSI) in 2007 in response to the need for standardized surveillance data on the prevalence of overweight and obesity among school-aged children. The availability of such information is essential to develop effective policies and strategies to tackle childhood obesity in the WHO European Region. The sixth data collection round of COSI involves 37 Member States and data collection is still ongoing in some of these. This report presents the results from the 13 States that collected information during the 2021–2022 school year on the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on children’s health, and four that collected information during the 2022–2023 school year. The findings of this research on the pandemic’s consequences are extremely important for participating Member States to help prepare for the future.

Interpersonal communication skills for supporting breastfeeding mothers: a handbook for community health support staff in emergency settings

The purpose of this handbook is to provide information about interpersonal communication skills that can be usedin emergency settings to improve communication with breastfeeding mothers for productive results. It provides essential information about the benefits of breastmilk, practices that help breastfeeding, interpersonal communication skills and key principles of helping for community-centred and integrated interventions.The target audience of this document is community health support staff working in emergencies. The handbook can also be of use to volunteers, medical doctors and nurses, as well as public health programmeworkers who work with, provide counselling for, or have contact with breastfeeding mothers.