ASPHER is the key independent European organisation dedicated to strengthening the role of public health by improving education and training of public health professionals for both practice and research. Founded in 1966, ASPHER has over 80 institutional members located throughout the Member States of the European Union (EU), Council of Europe (CE) and European Region of the World Health Organisation (WHO). ASPHER is represented in 41 European countries, with more than 2000 academics employed in its member institutions. Read more: ASPHER's Values, Vision, Mission and Aims

Photo: ASPHER, APACPH, ASPH sign declaration during Global Summit of Schools of Public Health, 4 December 2009; (left-right): Prof. Yia-Tang Shih, Prof. Antoine Flahault, Dean Linda Rosenstock, Prof. Wen-Ta Chui, Prof. Peter W.S. Chang.
News Archives
15.01.2010 - Parliamentary hearing Commissioner-designate for Health and Consumer Affairs John Dalli

On 14 January 2010, Europe’s Commissioner-Designate for Health and Consumer Affairs, John Dalli, underwent a public hearing from Members from the European Parliament in his bid to become the successor of Androulla Vassiliou – former European Commissioner for Health and Consumer Affairs. Click here if you want to find out John Dalli’s views on the recently rejected cross-border healthcare proposal, on tackling health inequalities by addressing social determinants of health and on the pharmaceutical package – an area that falls for the first time under the health and consumers portfolio. The European Parliament is now expected to hold a vote of consent on the new Commissioners on 26 January 2010, after which they will be formally appointed. [Source: EHMA New Bulleting]

14.12.2009 - Zsuzsanna Jakab, Regional WHO EURO Director-Elect, seeks you views!

Zsuzsanna Jakab, WHO Regional Director-Elect for Europe, is hosting a transition process website that shares her vision for the WHO European Office and asks for your views and suggestions about how to best adapt the WHO Regional Office for Europe to our changing European environment.

Please go to www.rdelecteuro.org to view the website and participate in this unique public health community consultation. Let the dialogue begin!

14.12.2009 - ASPHER Deans' and Directors Retreat 2010

ASPHER Deans' and Directors Retreat 2010 will take place in Rennes (France), 27-28 May. Ecole des Hautes Etudes en Santé Publique (EHESP) and its dean - prof. Antoine Flahault, ASPHER President (2010-2011), will host the meeting.

14.12.2009 - 3rd European Public Health Conference
Conference Announcement

3rd European Public Health Conference, comprising the ASPHER 32nd Annual Conference, will take place in Amsterdam (The Netherlands), 10-13 November 2010. The central theme of the conference is: Integrated Public Health. Integration – making something into a whole or making something part of a whole - is a key issue in European public health. Integration is believed to be an important prerequisite to address the major challenges of today’s public health systems across Europe such as the growing epidemic of chronic diseases, the potential threat of new infectious diseases, the clustering of social, physical, environmental and behavioural determinants of health, the economic crisis, and the workforce crisis.

Integration is then associated with bringing together of people, disciplines, organisations, sectors, communities, and societies. As such, integration is an inherent aspect of public health given its definition: “Public health is the science and art of preventing disease, prolonging life and promoting health through the organised efforts and informed choices of society, organisations, public and private, communities and individuals.” Find out more abouth the Conference 2010, here.

The Welcome film from Lodz (with Niek Klazinga)
Please use this download link (use the right mouse button to open and save)

04.12.2009 - ASPHER, APACPH, ASPH Sign Declaration during Global Summit of Schools of Public Health

On Friday, December 4, ASPH, APACPH and ASPHER organized the First Global Summit of Schools of Public Health in order to foster common efforts in education and research in global health. During the summit, held during the 41st APACPH conference in Taipei, Professor Antoine Flahault, ASPHER President, signed a common declaration on behalf of ASPHER with Professor Wen-Ta Chui of APACPH and Professor Linda Rosenstock of ASPH.

The declaration confirmed the organizations’ common view that “global health is public health” and it is one of the key issues in societies. Schools of Public Health are leading academic institutions, which are “well positioned to address global health issues.” By collectively recognizing the importance of the role of Schools of Public Health in addressing these global health issues and advocating for relevant policies, APACPH, ASPHER and ASPH pledge to encourage “sustainable and mutually beneficial partnerships between Schools of Public Health and academic institutions in the developing world.”

To download the declaration, click here.

01.12.2009 - 2010 EU Funding: Calls for proposals available shortly

Before the end of the year, the European Commission plans to publish its Work Plan for 2010, which sets the annual priorities for the implementation of the EU Health Programme. Immediately after, the calls for proposals for projects, operating grants, conferences and joint actions will be launched. Tentative deadline for submitting proposals is early March 2010. More information is available here.

For more news from the ASPHER Brussels Office, here here.

01.12.2009 - Prof. Gudjon Magnusson has been awarded posthumously the ASPHER 2009 Andrija Stampar Medal

The Ceremony took place on Friday, November 27, during the Annual Conference in Lodz.

"(...) For many years, Prof. Gudjon Magnusson was very involved in the ASPHER activities. Some people recognize him as a person always being with ASPHER and being a good spirit of the Association. He created the ASPHER Deans' and Directors' Retreats, the annual meetings of senior representatives of ASPHER member organizations, aiming to better know each other and to exchange their experience. He was the first - and the very best - chair of these meetings, which had become the unique events due to his energy. He helped ASPHER many times with valuable opinions, ideas and involvement in different activities of our Association. He was the only person awarded a special membership status within ASPHER". From the Laudatio given by Stojgniew Jacek Sitko, ASPHER President 2008-2009.

For the speech of Prof. Geir Gunnlaugsson, click here.
For the full list of ASPHER Andrija Stampar Medalists, click here.

01.12.2009 - ASPHER 2015 follow-up decisions at the GA in Lodz

Following the presentation of the results of the ASPHER 2015 project and a proposal of ASPHER new president, prof. Antoine Flahault, ASPHER General Assembly approved the establishment of ASPHER 7 core committees:

Accreditation for Public Health Education
chair: SJ Sitko (Krakow), co-chair: A Flahault (Rennes), R Kalediene (Kaunas)
Public Health Core Competencies
chair: CA Birt (Liverpool), co-chair: A Foldspang (Aarhus)
Global Health
chair: A Haines (London), co-chair: A Flahault (Rennes/Paris)
Doctoral Programmes and Research Capacities
chair: F Paccaud (Zuerich), co-chair: U Schlipkoeter (Munich)
Innovation and Good-practice in PH Teaching
chair: V Bjegovic (Belgrade), co-chair: H Brand (Maastricht)
Ethics and Values in Public Health
chair: T Tulchinsky (Jerusalem)
Public Health Advocacy and Communication
chair: P Moreira (ECDC), co-chair: R Otok (ASPHER Brussels Office)

ASPHER 2015 Project Round 3: Summary of Results
Road Map to 2015: A Strategic Planning Initiative for ASPHER poster
Road Map to 2015: A Strategic Planning Initiative for ASPHER website

01.12.2009 - ASPHER Young Researchers Forum 2009
For the agenda of the ASPHER Young Researchers Forum 2009, click here.

ASPHER Young Researchers Forum 2009 took place on Wednesday 25 November in Lodz (Poland), prior to the annual conference. Best oral and poster presenters received prizes generously funded this year by the Swiss School of Public Health+ (SSPH+) and the French School of Public Health (EHESP), see below for details. Furthermore, all authors selected for the oral presentations at the forum had their registration fees for the regular programme of the Second European Public Health Conference covered by ASPHER.

Best Oral Presentations, Gold Prizes (2 x 1000 EUR):
Olga Kharkova: “High prevalence of smoking before and during pregnancy is associated with social factors in Northwest Russia” International School of Public Health, Northern State Medical University, Arkhangelsk, Russia
Vera Musil: “Alcohol drinking habits in first year medical students at the University of Zagreb” Department of Social Medicine and Organisation of Health Care, Andrija Stampar School of Public Health, School of Medicine, Zagreb, Croatia

Best Oral Presentations, Silver Prizes (2 x 500 EUR):
Calypse Agborsangaya: “Serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D and risk of pregnancy-associated breast cancer” Tampere School of Public Health, The University of Tampere, Finland
Carmel Conlon: “GGT in Primary care setting is associated with factors of cardiovascular disease” School of Public Health, Phyisotherapy & Population Science, University College Dublin & St Vincents University Hospital, Ireland

Best Poster Prizes (2 x 500 EUR):
Aikant Bhatti: "The Role of Inactivated Polio Vaccine (IPV) in Achieving Polio Eradication in India” Braun School of Public Health, Hebrew University - Hadassah School of Public Health and Community Medicine, Israel
Alexander Popov: “Survival and factors of prognosis in patients with muscle-invasive bladder cancer after conventional radiotherapy in Northwest Russia” Arkhangelsk Regional Clinical Oncologic Dispensary, Russia

Photo: Prof. Fred Paccaud (Swiss School of Public Health+) and Prof. Antoine Flahault (Ecole des Hautes Etudes en Santé Publique) - Chairs of the ASPHER Young Researchers Forum 2009

01.12.2009 - 2nd European Public Health Conference
HIGHLIGHTS FROM THE ASPHER 2009 GENERAL ASSEMBLY

ASPHER New President: Prof. Antoine Flahault, Dean of the EHESP School of Public Health, became a new ASPHER President (2010-2011).

ASPHER Executive Board: Prof. Fred Paccaud, Dean of the Swiss School of Public Health+ (SSPH+), joined the ASPHER Executive Board. Prof. Vesna Bjegovic-Mikanovic (Belgrade SPH) and Dr. Christopher Birt (Liverpool SPH) have been re-elected for the 2nd term.

ASPHER New Members: ISPED School of Public Health (Bordeaux, France), SPH Protestant University of Applied Sciences (Ludwigsburg, Germany) and SPH Adnan Menderes University (Aydin, Turkey) have been accepted as ASPHER full insitutional members. Furthermore, a status of an associate member has been given to the Malta Association of Public Health. Malta has been voted the location of the European Public Health Conference in 2012.

ASPHER 2009 General Assembly took place on Wednesday 25 November in Lodz (Poland), prior to the 2nd European Public Health Conference (EPHC) being ASPHER 31st Annual Conference. The EPHC itself was for the second time successfully organised by EUPHA and ASPHER. For the speech of SJ Sitko, ASPHER President 2008-2009, click here.