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.

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.

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.

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.

Exploring the digital health landscape in the WHO European Region: digital health country profiles

In the midst of a rapidly changing landscape in digital health, the health sector is experiencing a profound transformation marked by the growing integration of digital health technologies. This shift not only offers a multitude of benefits but also revolutionizes the dynamics between patients and health-care providers within the health-care system. This collection of country profiles – based on the 2022 Survey on Digital Health in the WHO European Region – explores the ways in which Member States are reshaping their health-care systems through the integration of digital health. The profiles indicate critical digital health components at the national level, including digital health governance, electronic health records, patient portals, telehealth, mobile health, and big data and analytics. Analysing these elements provides insights into how each Member State strategically navigates the swiftly evolving landscape of digital health.

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.

Expanding the national school meals programme in Ukraine: policy brief

For over a century, countries have implemented school meals programmes to support pupils’ well-being, promote school attendance and academic performance, and provide a strong return on investment for their economies and future human capital. Providing school meals at no cost to all pupils within a school, region or country – through universal free school meals policies – magnifies these benefits to a significant degree. During times of war and post-recovery efforts, this focus on child and adolescent well-being is especially critical, as many young people experience psychological trauma, exacerbated by unstable living conditions and inconsistent access to food. The war in Ukraine has had a devastating impact, and now is therefore a particularly important time for Ukraine to expand and further strengthen its national school meals programme, with the goal of implementing a comprehensive universal free school meals policy. External investments and resources should be prioritized to support this initiative and develop a sustainable infrastructure, which will contribute to the short- and long-term health and well-being of Ukraine’s youth as the nation transitions to a period of future peace.

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.

People-centred approach to tackling antimicrobial resistance: key principle of the Roadmap on antimicrobial resistance for the WHO European Region 2023–2030

A people-centred approach to tackling antimicrobial resistance (AMR) was developed to support countries in their implementation of the recently adopted Roadmap on antimicrobial resistance for the WHO European Region 2023–2030. A people-centred approach acknowledges the central role of individuals and communities in tackling AMR, and in helping to address weaknesses and gaps in current AMR efforts. The document illustrates what a people-centred approach to AMR means, demonstrates its value, and compiles useful resources and tools for implementation.

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.

WHO Regional Meeting on Poliovirus Containment Progress for National Poliovirus Containment Coordinators and National Authorities for Containment: 26–27 September 2023, Copenhagen, Denmark

The WHO regional meeting on poliovirus containment progress for national poliovirus containment coordinators and national authorities for containment, held on 26–27 September 2023, provided technical support in the field of poliovirus containment implementation at the national level. The meeting addressed the role of national poliovirus containment coordinators in the implementation of the Global Action Plan for Poliovirus Containment and discussed the status and challenges of polio eradication and polio containment implementation in the WHO European Region based on the Regional overview and country experiences.