Health In Europe

In this episode, WHO/Europe’s Press and Media Relations Officer, Bhanu Bhatnagar, speaks with Professor Johan von Schreeb about his experience dealing with mass casualty incidents during times of war as well as his work with WHO to train health workers and specialists who may face such devastating and overwhelming situations. Show notes: The importance of mass casualty training in the context of t...

Not a single country in the WHO European Region is on track to stop the rise in obesity by 2025 – that’s according to the 2022 European Obesity Report. What’s more, the report highlights serious risks to people’s health – including a stark warning obesity might overtake smoking as the main risk for preventable cancer. In this episode we dig more into the report and find out what countries can do t...

As we mark European Immunization Week – WHO confirms that a polio outbreak in Tajikistan has ended following a comprehensive response. We speak with Dr Shahin Huseynov to find out how this was achieved. While Dr Siddhartha Datta speaks about the importance of vaccine equity as we continue to face COVID-19. SHOW NOTES:   Comprehensive outbreak response successfully stops spread of polio in Tajikist...

Labs form an often unseen yet crucial part of any health system. In this episode we find out more about the role of laboratories in health, their day-to-day work as well as what WHO and partners are doing to train up the next generation of laboratory leaders – including a recent training in Kazakhstan. Show notes: Preparing the next generation of laboratory leaders: https://www.euro.who.int/en/hea...

You may remember a couple of weeks ago we spoke about the Economics of Ageing webinar series. In this episode, we speak with Dr Jon Cylus of the European Observatory on Health Systems and Policies about the webinars and what comes next. S how notes: Where do we find the money to fund healthcare for an ageing population? [ https://eurohealthobservatory.who.int/news-room/events/item/2022/01/18/defau...

In this episode we speak about a new report from WHO/Europe on inequities in treatment for childhood cancer in the Region and hear from Aron Anderson, WHO/Europe’s Ambassador on Cancer who himself beat cancer at a young age.  Show notes New WHO report highlights scale of childhood cancer inequalities in the European Region: https://www.who.int/europe/news/item/15-02-2022-new-who-report-highlights-...

Screening for diseases like cancer may seem a simple solution to catch the disease before it becomes serious. But in this episode we find out how complicated screening for cancer is. Show Notes When is screening for cancer the right course of action? LINK: https://www.euro.who.int/en/health-topics/noncommunicable-diseases/cancer/news/news/2022/2/when-is-screening-for-cancer-the-right-course-of-act...

Earlier this week marked two years since the first cases of COVID-19 were detected in the WHO European Region. In this episode we speak with a frontline healthcare worker, the importance of vaccination and find out what it was like to coordinate the emergency response in the Region. Show notes: Laura Lupi, COVID-19 nurse: together, we can beat this virus [ https://www.euro.who.int/en/countries/ita...

Population ageing is often seen as bad for the economy and unsustainable for health systems. But is this really the case? Debora Miranda, Communications Officer at the European Observatory on Health Systems and Policies speaks about a new webinar series focusing on the economics of ageing. And in part two - WHO’s European Office for the Prevention of Non-Communicable Diseases (NCDs) look at big da...

In this episode we speak with Dr Catherine Smallwood, WHO/Europe’s COVID-19 incident manager, to get the latest on the Omicron variant which continues to cause record cases across the Region. And WHO’s European Office for the Prevention of Non-Communicable Diseases explore how we can stay healthy in the metaverse. Watch the full COVID-19 briefing on the WHO/Europe YouTube channel: https://www.yout...

The first episode in a mini-series of podcasts created for the Digital Solutions for Noncommunicable Diseases Conference in Moscow discusses how digital solutions can help us stay healthy and improve our health.

In this episode we hear from health workers and NGOs about what steps can be taken to provide healthcare to people in prison, leaving no-one behind in health

In this episode, we speak with three young health care workers from across the Region about the challenges they’ve faced during COVID-19 and their hopes for their future, providing care to communities in need.

In this episode, we speak with representatives of health authorities in Slovenia and with "Nobody Left Outside" - a collective of organizations representing some of the most marginalized groups - about the importance of health equity, particularly following the COVID-19 pandemic.

In this episode we speak with Dr Tracey Cooper, Chief Executive of Public Health Wales and Christine Brown of WHO European Office for Investment for Health and Development about the need to place health equity at the centre of the recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic

In this third and final episode, we’re building flutopia – exploring different ways that health authorities work to increase flu vaccination rates among populations.

In part one of flutopia, we explored why the annual flu vaccine is so important. In the second episode of this three-part series we speak with Dr Richard Pebody about how flu vaccines are made.

Each year people are encouraged to get a flu vaccine to protect them from seasonal influenza. But why do we need a flu vaccine? Find out in the first episode of our three-part series ‘Flutopia’

In this episode, we speak with Dr Alex Schneider of Life4me+, a charity that worked with WHO to ensure access to healthcare and treatment among migrant workers living with HIV who suddenly found themselves unable to travel due to restrictions during the COVID-19 pandemic. This episode explores the multiple barriers migrants face when accessing healthcare and the long-term impacts these can have.

The education of children and young people around the world has been deeply affected by COVID-19. The closing of schools in response to the pandemic highlighted a number of  existing inequalities as well as putting a mental strain on many. In this episode we speak with Emilia, Frida and Malika – youth advisers to the technical advisory group on schooling during COVID-19 - about a survey they condu...

Earlier this year, wild polio was declared eradicated from  Africa. This fantastic achievement brought humanity one step closer to globally eradicating a disease that once took millions of lives every year, and still today affects many survivors in their daily lives.  The victories against polio are hard-earned and it’s an ongoing battle to keep the virus from returning. 

Earlier this week, Member States endorsed the European Programme of Work at WHO/Europe’s 70th Regional Committee. Linking to the three key priorities of the Global Programme of Work – protecting more people from health emergencies, promoting health and well-being and ensuring more people have access to universal health coverage. We spoke with WHO/Europe’s Regional Director, Dr Hans Kluge, about ho...

Digital health offers solutions that offer the potential to strengthen health systems, but it also raises a number of important questions. In this episode, we speak with Clayton Hamilton about the importance of technology to the future of healthcare in our Region and why it is one of four flagships areas for WHO/Europe in the coming years.

Immunization has played a crucial role in reducing mortality and the unnecessary suffering of people as a result of vaccine-preventable diseases across the European Region. Yet it retains great potential to help us build even healthier, more prosperous societies. The third of four episodes highlighting flagships for WHO/Europe, this week we talk to Dr Siddhartha Datta, Programme Manager Vaccine-pr...

Mental health is an important part of personal health. It’s estimated that millions of people in the WHO European Region are living with mental health conditions. Tragically, 140,000 people lose their lives to suicide each year in our Region – a stark reminder that we have much work to do on mental health. In this episode, the second of four on flagship areas for WHO/Europe, we speak with Dan Chis...