European Public Health Week: Health is a political choice

13 May, 2024

It’s European Public Health Week (EUPHW) which is this year examining the interplay between politics and health under the broad theme of ‘Health is a political choice’.

Led by the European Public Health Association (EUPHA), an umbrella organisation for public health associations and institutes in Europe, EUPHW runs from Monday, 13 May through to Friday, 17 May.

In keeping with the overall theme of EUPHW, IPH is sharing a recording of a keynote address by Professor of European Public Health at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, Martin McKee, at an event last October to mark the Institute’s 25th anniversary.

In his address, ‘Should governments make us healthier? Shifting the focus of public policy’, Professor McKee argued that governments will only achieve the best possible outcomes for their people if they invest in their health.

_{^{Professor Martin McKee, Professor of European Public Health}}

Healthier populations are more resilient to threats, get better results from education, contribute to greater economic growth, and create more cohesive societies. And all of these, in turn, contribute to better health, creating a virtuous cycle.

Professor McKee made the case for a Health For All Policies approach - ensuring that every government department looks at all its policies through a health lens and commits to investing in healthier and more resilient communities.

An investment in health, he argued, can achieve other policy goals, pointing to evidence on increased labour force productivity, a more secure labour market, and better education outcomes as examples of potential social and economic benefits.

Watch full recording of 25th anniversary event here

EUPHW 2024: Health is a political choice

The 6th EUPHW opened with an event in Brussels on Monday to discuss how to integrate health into the political agenda and explore the concepts of a wellbeing economy and implementing Health-in-All-Policies.

Over the next five days, the public health community across Europe will host a wide range of events to raise awareness about public health and promote wider collaboration at local, national, regional and European levels.

Each of the EUPHW days will focus on the following themes: