A curated selection of EPHA’s mentions in worldwide media outlets during 2020.
“We have a volume of data that we’ve never experienced”: How big data is being utilised in public health
Verdict
9 January 2020
According to the European Public Health Alliance, AI has the potential to “improve screening, diagnoses and treatments across many medical disciplines and in many disease areas”, but all of this relies on data. The increasing presence of AI in public health has been driven by access to a greater volume and variety of data, combined with greater computing power.
POLITICO Pro Morning Health Care: EU court judgment on transparency rules — what you need to know
Politico
21 January 2020
More than 30 groups and researchers, including the European Public Health Alliance and Health Action International, signed a joint letter in December saying that Hogan focused too heavily on commercial interests. A stronger transparency policy is “fundamental to ensure patient safety and allowing public scrutiny … while enabling trust in and accountability of the regulator,” they argued.
POLITICO Pro Morning Health Care: ENVI talks e-cigs, vice chairs — Pharma strategy for AMR fight — Glasgow hit with HIV ‘perfect storm
Politico
18 February 2020
The groups, including the NCD Alliance, European Heart Network and the European Public Health Alliance, “urge that a thorough prevention pillar should be included in Europe’s Beating Cancer Plan with special attention to tackling challenges common to all NCDs, and to initiate a process towards a wider EU strategic approach to the prevention of chronic diseases, including mental ill-health.”
“Het nieuwe coronavirus vormt een groter risico in steden met luchtvervuiling”, waarschuwen Europese experts
VRT
16 March 2020
(TRANSLATION) The European Public Health Alliance (EPHA) today issued a press release, saying that people living in large cities with high air pollution are at greater risk if they become infected with the new coronavirus.
Covid-19. Pandemia levou a redução drástica da poluição na China e em Itália
RTP
17 March 2020
(TRANSLATION) In a statement issued last Monday, EPHA stressed that air pollution causes hypertension, diabetes and respiratory diseases, “conditions that doctors are beginning to relate to higher mortality rates for Covid-19”. • EPHA, […] , also cited a 2003 study on victims of the SARS coronavirus, which concluded that “patients in regions with moderate air pollution levels were 84% more likely to die than those in regions with little air pollution”. • Science tells us that epidemics like Covid-19 will occur more and more often, so clearing the roads is a basic investment for a healthier future,” stressed Sascha Marscahng, EPHA’s Secretary General.
EU ‘farm to fork’ strategy aims to feed sustainable food system
Food Navigator
17 March 2020
The European Public Health Alliance (EPHA), a non-profit association, states that an action plan for the creation of healthy and sustainable food environment is necessary to “facilitate the uptake of more healthy, tasty, plant-rich diets with less and better animal products”.
Emerging Europe
30 March 2020
“Epidemiologists are clear in their advice: until we have a vaccine or effective treatment, the only proven ways to efficiently control the epidemic are social distancing measures and wide-scale testing,” says Vlad Mixich, of the European Public Health Alliance. “This is what South Korea did in time, and Italy did too late. In Romania, we implemented social distancing in good time, but when it comes to testing we are a long way behind. Per head of population, we are testing 15 times fewer people than Norway, 10 times fewer than Slovenia and a third less than Austria,” he adds.
Post-coronavirus stimulus must target air quality improvements, say campaigners
ends europe
30 March 2020
Environmental and public health campaigners say the impact Covid-19 restrictions are having on air quality in Europe demonstrates the case for tougher action on pollution.
Air pollution drops in Europe, but how long will it last?
euobserver
1 April 2020
The European Public Health Alliance believes ‘the damage is already done’, as air pollution is a strong driver for lung and heart conditions, which are linked to higher coronavirus death rates
Madrid breathes clearer air amid coronavirus lockdown
Reuters
5 April 2020
The images, released by the European Space Agency (ESA) and analysed by the non-profit European Public Health Alliance (EPHA), show the changing density of nitrogen dioxide, which can cause respiratory problems and cancer, like heat maps.
Farmers association and NGOs at odds over postponement of new EU food policy
euractiv
7 April 2020
Likewise, Nikolai Pushkarev, Policy Co-ordinator at the European Public Health Alliance (EPHA), said that it is “unfortunate that this health crisis is being used as a pretext to postpone the Farm to Fork Strategy, an important initiative dealing with the sustainability of the food system which is at the heart of Europeans’ concerns today.”
Doctor’s Note: The psychological effects of social distancing
Aljazeera.com
14 April 2020
The European Public Health Alliance stated: “Feelings of loneliness and social isolation, heightened by the current public health crisis, can have severe health consequences for a number of socioeconomic groups.”
Averting the next public health crisis
The Parliament Magazine
21 April 2019
That is why we recently launched an Interest Group to address this urgent issue. Its secretariat is co-hosted by the European Public Health Alliance (EPHA) and Health Care Without Harm (HCWH) Europe, with the support of the AMR Stakeholder Network, the largest civil society-led network of more than 80 organisations on AMR.
Call for action over medicine shortages exacerbated by COVID-19 outbreak
euractiv
28 April 2020
The European Public Health Alliance (EPHA), alongside a number of its members representing patient and disease groups, has published a report detailing new recommendations to tackle the EU medicine shortages crisis, saying that patients “can’t wait any longer”
How air pollution exacerbates Covid-19
BBC News
28 April 2020
Air pollution is also known to weaken the immune system, compromising people’s ability to fight off infection, according to the European Public Health Alliance.
China sees post-lockdown rise in air pollution: study
reuters
18 May 2020
“There is no reason to think that going back to normal would not have the same consequences – namely, pre-crisis pollution levels,” Zoltan Massay-Kosubek, policy manager for clean air at the non-profit European Public Health Alliance, said of easing lockdowns in Europe.
The hunt for a coronavirus vaccine: a research effort worldwide
france24
26 May 2020
Surging support for cycling and walking to protect clean air in cities
Fleet News
11 June 2020
Sascha Marschang, acting secretary general of the European Public Health Alliance (EPHA), said: “People have taken a deep breath of clean air and decided to keep it. Now the invisible killer is visible: air pollution made us sick, worsened the pandemic and hit the most deprived the hardest. Reducing health inequalities by designing a pollution-free city transport system cannot wait any longer.
Remdesivir: US purchase of world stocks sparks new “hunger games,” warn observers
the bmj
3 July 2020
Yannis Natsis, Policy Manager for Universal Access and Affordable Medicines at the European Public Health Alliance, told The BMJ, “These kinds of headlines fuel the competition and race between governments to secure access to a drug that appears to be of only marginal advantage. It pushes up the price that governments are prepared to pay.”
Global Vaccine Plan May Allow Rich Countries to Buy More
NBC-DFW
14 July 2020
Yannis Natsis, a policy official at the European Public Health Alliance, said the last thing on the minds of officials in rich countries is sharing with poor ones. “Politicians are scared if they don’t throw money at companies, the citizens in the next country over will get the vaccines first and they will look very bad,” Natsis said.
Shrinking’ Horizon as EU leaders cut R&D funding even as researchers fight pandemic
Bioworld
24 July 2020
Meanwhile the European Public Health Alliance called the cut “a lost opportunity for the health of Europe.” COVID-19 has exposed the vulnerability of Europe’s health care systems, but “it seems EU leaders have not only minimized the need to tackle immediate failures highlighted by the crisis, but have not fully considered the other looming health threats on the horizon.”
Roma equality strategy needs mandatory targets and earmarked funding, experts say
euractiv
29 July 2020
Radost Zaharieva, policy coordinator at the European Public Health Alliance (EPHA), said that in the coming months we may see the aftermath of the COVID confinement in the health of Roma communities who already suffer from higher rates of chronic illnesses. Roma settlements are often densely populated with overcrowded households that accommodate several generations of large families, and have limited to no access to basic public services, such as garbage collection.
Who’s calling the shots in European healthcare?
pm live
31 July 2020
“There is now an unprecedented debate about high prices, with governments working to challenge prices and speak up against imbalances in the current pharma business model,” said Natsis. “Healthcare systems from Denmark to Cyprus are alarmed by these high prices….and governments are starting to look at all of these pieces of the puzzle.”
After Covid-19, let’s go back to clean air
euobserver
7 September 2020
COVID-vaccine results are on the way — and scientists’ concerns are growing
nature
25 September 2020
In Europe, closed-door negotiations with companies over vaccine procurement are stoking vaccine hesitancy, says Yannis Natsis, a policy manager at the advocacy group European Public Health Alliance in Brussels. “We don’t want to give vaccines a bad name, we want to defend confidence in vaccines,” he says. “But there is an incredible lack of transparency.”
Why does Europe need its own ‘BARDA’?
Science Business
17 September 2020
“In principle, an EU BARDA is a great idea but it should not become a blank cheque to the pharma industry,” said Yannis Natsis, policy manager, universal access and affordable medicines at the European Public Health Alliance.Natsis called for the new agency not to “simply fix market failures but steer meaningful innovation driven by public health needs.” Governance has to be “transparent and inclusive”, with taxpayers not just playing a role of “passive donors”
Roma are Victims of Environmental Racism, New Report Shows
eu today
26 September 2020
EU medicine regulator seeks full results of WHO’s remdesivir trial
Financial Times
16 October
It’s not just a health concern: air pollution is costing European citizens $190 billion per year
ZME Science
22 October 2020
NYC transport guru aiming to solve Bucharest’s congestion problem
euronews
28 October 2020
It comes after the European Public Health Alliance issued a report quantifying the monetary value of premature deaths, medical care and lost workdays in 432 European cities due to pollution. The report showed air pollution costs a resident of a European city about €1,250 per year while for a Bucharest resident the cost is more than €3,000.
The struggle for transparency in times of Covid-19
Irish Times
28 October 2020
“Transparency is not a ‘nice to have’ when it comes to handling the Covid-19 pandemic and in particular, governments’ dealings with the pharmaceutical companies”
Italy ‘manifestly failed’ on air pollution, EU top court rules
euobserver
11 November 2020
Vaccine contracts shrouded in secrecy despite massive public funding
Irish Times
23 November 2020
Yannis Natsis, a policy adviser at the European Public Health Alliance and a board member at the European Medicines Agency, welcomed the move but said the “devil is in the detail”. “It should be a step towards meaningful transparency and not a box-ticking exercise,” he said. “This will depend on how much and what sort of information will be redacted.”
Coronavirus: Germany hopeful of earlier EU vaccine approval
Deutsche Welle
15 December
Speaking to DW, Yannis Natsis, policy manager at the Belgium-based NGO, European Public Health Alliance, said it was important for politicians not to raise expectations about the vaccine: “Vaccines will not be the magic wand politicians expect them to be.” I understand the pressure, I understand the emergency, but we need to be careful. We need to be meticulous — this cannot be rushed, he added. Natsis added that that letting “regulators do their job” would ensure confidence in the vaccine.
Here’s how much Europe will pay for each COVID-19 vaccine
Fortune
18 December 2020
“National Parliaments and the public should have access to these deals once concluded,” the European Public Health Alliance said in a Thursday statement. “If there is a new round of joint procurement negotiations, transparency should be the starting point.”
