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.

External health security capacity assessment of Kosovo

Joint External Evaluation (JEE) is a tool to measure specific status and progress in developing capacity to prevent, detect and rapidly respond to public health threats, be they naturally occurring, deliberate or accidental. JEEs have several important features including voluntary country participation, multisectoral approach, transparency and information sharing including public release of the report.Authorities in Kosovo[1] from internal and external assessors, required to assess all 19 technical area with 95 indicators in total. For each technical area were developed specific recommendations that needs to be itemized into specific activities, prioritize them and moving forward step by step in order to strengthen capacities to prevent, detect and respond to public health emergencies. Recommendations mainly focuses on: revise legislation, sustainable funding, developing National Action Plan for Health Security (NAPHS), collaborative digitalized surveillance system, and multisectoral coordination.

The role of digital health technologies in women’s health, empowerment, and gender equality: project report

A growing body of evidence shows that digital health technologies (DHTs) can improve women’s health outcomes by overcoming ongoing socioeconomic, cultural and geopolitical barriers that inhibit their access to health care. Despite this, there has been no systematic assessment of the benefits of digital health for women’s health. This project was devised to review the effects of DHTs on women’s health and their potential to improve women’s empowerment and gender equality by scoping peer-reviewed primary studies in this area. The results suggest that DHTs positively impact women’s empowerment, facilitate the achievement of gender equality (particularly associated with improving women’s access to health-care services, enhancing maternal health, providing women with essential health information and creating opportunities for women to participate in household decisions), and improve health outcomes for women (especially in relation to gynaecology, obstetrics and psychiatry), thereby advancing the achievement of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals.

Political statement of the WHO European Healthy Cities Network: towards thriving societies - advancing health in the well-being economy

Cities are drivers of innovation across public and private sectors towards enabling an economy that works for everyone. The following Political Statement has been developed through consultation with member cities and WHO European Office for Investment for Health and Development and reflects commitment to the Health and Well-Being Economy Pilot initiated by the WHO European Healthy Cities Network. The pilot aims to bring expertise together to support action in cities towards well-being economies.

Behavioural insights on health service needs, access and uptake: results of a qualitative study among refugees from Ukraine in Czechia: May–September 2023

The Russian invasion of Ukraine on 24 February 2022 led to the displacement of over 7 million Ukrainians to neighbouring European Union countries. To understand and document access to health services from the refugee perspective, the WHO Regional Office for Europe, WHO Country Office in Czechia, Ministry of Health of Czechia and other key partners conducted a qualitative study of Ukrainian refugees in Czechia between May and September 2023. The objective was to identify health service needs and gaps and the barriers and drivers of health service uptake. Refugees appreciated the support provided to them, especially health insurance, and found it reassuring that emergency health care is available free of charge. Challenges to accessing routine care included finding an available family doctor, getting timely appointments and language barriers. Although mental health and psychosocial support is available, many refugees reported not using these services. Considerations for action focus on tailoring the response to those in most need.

Health needs assessment of the adult population in Ukraine: survey report: October 2023

The ongoing full-scale aggression by the Russian Federation continues to exert unprecedented pressure on all aspects of public life in Ukraine. Despite the significant negative impact of the war, the findings indicate that the country’s health system remains resilient, and that access to health services is relatively good. The regions that experienced active hostilities in the early stages of the invasion have regained access to medical care, and no longer differ significantly from the regions that did not experience active hostilities. However, residents of regions that are still experiencing active hostilities and areas that are not fully controlled by the Government of Ukraine have less access to family doctors and medicines than the rest of the country. In terms of access to a family doctor, people who have been internally displaced continue to be more vulnerable than local communities.This report is based on data collected in the fourth round of the quantitative cross-sectional survey of self-reported health needs of the general population in Ukraine. It presents the results of a survey conducted in October 2023.

Development of the health economic assessment tool (HEAT) for walking and cycling: seventh consensus meeting: meeting report: 8 March and 5 April 2023

The project on the Health Economic Assessment Tool (HEAT) for Walking and Cycling,1 coordinated by WHO, steered by a coordinating team of multidisciplinary experts and supported by relevant international experts invited ad hoc, hold advisory group and consensus meetings to discuss and agree upon methodological updates and new features of the HEAT. The seventh meeting was convened to achieve scientific consensus on a new functionality for assessing the effects of e-biking. Twenty participants attended the meeting, comprising members of the HEAT coordinating team, the HEAT advisory group and invited experts, seven participants from WHO regions (five from the European Region and two from the Region of the Americas), and two from WHO headquarters. Participants discussed and adopted eight recommendations and provided comments, which will be taken into account in finalizing an updated version of the HEAT that includes e-biking.

Personal-level actions to reduce air pollution exposure in the WHO European Region

This report summarizes evidence and information and formulates practical advice on personal-level actions to reduce exposure to ambient air pollution. It covers personal actions such as reducing the amount of time spent in polluted outdoor environments, adjusting the location and timing of physical activity, using air cleaners, wearing face coverings, and mobility options (transport, active transportation, routes, driving style and vehicle settings). Each topic is evaluated according to a uniform set of criteria, ranging from effectiveness to personal costs and social factors. Most of the evidence available to inform the advice derives from western European and North American studies. Although evidence on effectiveness and on health risks/harms can be considered applicable across settings, evidence on economic, social or feasibility factors is less so. Consequently, the applicability of the advice presented in this report should be carefully considered at national level, especially in settings outside western Europe.

Country experiences of applying behavioural and cultural insights to health: qualitative baseline study

This report summarizes the conclusions of an interview study with public health authorities in Europe and Central Asia, exploring the barriers and drivers to advancing the use of behavioural and cultural insights (BCI) for health. With a regional WHO resolution related to this field and a regional 5-year plan with five concrete strategic commitments, WHO Regional Office for Europe jointly with the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control in January–February 2023 wished to gain a deeper understanding and context to the official reporting. The findings highlighted commitment to and optimism about BCI-related work and indicated that the WHO regional resolution, BCI action framework and reporting requirements are drivers of change. Barriers to advancing BCI work were related to skills (behavioural science, problem definition, trialling and impact evaluation, and translating evidence into policy or interventions); staff, funding and time; communicating messages to decisionmakers; bridging processes for research and decision-making; and organizational culture. Suggestions for possible solutions included the use of case examples to demonstrate the impact and value of BCI-related work; training; funding and staff; and awareness raising among decision-makers. Regional and international partners were asked to establish networking structures; ensure advocacy; collate good practice and case examples; and offer training and capacity-building.

Rapid assessment of the country tuberculosis emergency response and preparedness in mitigating the impact of cross-border migration on the tuberculosis epidemic in Czechia

An increase in tuberculosis (TB) and drug-resistant TB notifications was reported by Czechia to WHO in 2022 and observed over the first 10 months of 2023. This pointed to a recovery of the country’s health system from the impact of COVID-19, in addition to increased migration processes across the region, mainly heightened by the war in Ukraine. The WHO mission to Czechia addressed reported cases of multidrug-resistant TB (MDR-TB), particularly among children. Mission outcomes indicate that most of the notified MDR-TB cases have a foreign origin, largely from Ukraine. Available evidence suggests that most cases likely resulted from the reactivation of latent infection or a new exposure to TB before migration, rather than from recent transmission occurring in the host country.

Can people afford to pay for health care? New evidence on financial protection in France: summary

This report assesses the extent to which people in France experience financial hardship when they use health care. It covers the period from 2011 to 2024 using data from household budget surveys from 2011 and 2017 (the latest available year), data on unmet need for health services up to 2022 (the latest available year) and information on coverage policy (population coverage, service coverage and user charges) up to March 2024. Its key findings are as follows.

Health and well-being for all: celebrating 35 years of the Healthy Cities Movement: WHO European Healthy Cities Network Annual Business Meeting and Technical Conference, 21–23 November, Utrecht, Netherlands (Kingdom of the): meeting report

This report provides a comprehensive overview of the proceedings and key discussions held during the 2023 WHO European Healthy Cities Annual Business Meeting and Technical Conference in Utrecht, Netherlands (Kingdom of the). It covers the opening session, plenary sessions, roundtable discussions, workshops, abstract presentation sessions, and business meetings, highlighting themes such as the transformative power of intersectoral collaboration, navigating challenges brought by the COVID-19 pandemic, and reflections on 35 years of the Healthy Cities Movement. Key topics addressed include climate change, health inequalities, the well-being economy, and youth engagement. The report also includes 12 practical recommendations from a political statement adopted by the network on advancing health in the well-being economy.

Sustainable behaviours for environment and health challenges: Behavioural and Cultural Insights policy brief

Behaviours are central to many environmental and health challenges, including actions by individuals, communities, commerce, industry and health service providers. Infrastructure, service and information provision, legislation, and regulation all play critical roles in enabling, supporting and promoting positive behaviours for a sustainable future. Behavioural and cultural insights (BCI) provide an approach to systematically understand behaviour and facilitate the changes needed to disrupt the negative impacts and promote positive environmental impacts on our health. This policy brief explores how a BCI approach can improve outcomes by increasing understanding of behavioural and cultural determinants, and by creating more evidence-based and cost-effective policies and interventions to address environment and health challenges.

Shifting towards fiscally resilient, healthy societies: finding common ground between public health and finance sectors and central banks

This is the main background paper for the WHO European Finding Common Ground initiative, which aims to develop new modelling tools for use by central banks and ministries of finance that shape fiscal and economic policies to improve health equity and well-being, while showing the co-benefits of health and health equity for fiscal stability and economic well-being. Shared priorities have been identified as mental health and inclusion of young people, ageing, unbalanced development and gender equality. The paper demonstrates the growing interest and initiatives across central banks, finance, health and public health on common policy issues, framing the opportunities for action across these sectors. It also sets out key roles and ways of working within these sectors to enable future dialogue.

How does Switzerland’s health sector contribute to the economy? Health and the economy: a series of country snapshots

Health matters. The health sector is an important and innovative industry, as well as a source of stable employment for many people. Health systems support active and productive populations, reduce inequities and poverty and promote social cohesion. A strong health system makes good economic sense and underpins the overall sustainable development agenda. Countries around the world are grappling with the health, economic and fiscal implications of the COVID-19 pandemic. As they begin to recover from the crisis, difficult decisions will need to be made about how to allocate scarce resources. These snapshots share valuable evidence for policy-makers on how investing in health sectors and health systems helps to achieve national economic objectives.

Standardized package of community-based support services to improve tuberculosis outcomes: a guide for affected community and civil society organizations, national tuberculosis programmes and policy-makers in eastern Europe and central Asia: web-annex: costing tool

This costing tool is an annex to the costing methodology, which is an integral part of Standardized package of community-based support services to improve tuberculosis outcomes and is aimed to provide the national stakeholders such as the Ministries of Health, National Tuberculosis Programmes (NPTs) and civil society organizations in eastern Europe and central Asia with a practical tool to project costs of community-based support services for TB and thus support the implementation of the package.