The UNESCO Chair team took part in the 17th European Public Health Conference which was held 12-15 November 2024 in Lisbon, Portugal. There is clearly a more prominent place for health promotion and reducing health inequalities in public health.
Tackling health inequalities in times of crisis – the educational perspective
During the EPH Conference one of the plenary sessions was on “Tackling health inequalities in times of crisis”, organised by EuroHealthNet. According to key-note speaker Fran Baum: ‘we are living in a world facing a poly-crisis that is threatening health equity. We face a multitude of challenges which significantly impact individuals’ health and well-being and create the conditions for persisting health inequalities’.
Tackling health inequalities in times of crisis requires action across societal sectors and levels. As a panelist Didier Jourdan, chairholder of the UNESCO Chair on Global Health & Education, gave a reflection from the educational perspective. He shared 4 ideas:
1) Education has a close-response relationship with all-cause morbidity;
2) Education systems are key actors in public health, not mere instruments;
3) A school that promotes health is first of all a good, inclusive and equitable school;
4) To fight inequalities we need to harness the power of formal, non-formal and informal education.
Recordings of all plenary sessions are available on EPH Conference’s YouTube channel.
Pre-conference on the effectiveness of complex health promotion interventions
On 12 November one of the pre-conferences was on “Establishing the effectiveness of complex health promotion interventions: Shining light on alternatives”. It was organised by the EUPHA Health Promotion section, in collaboration with the UNESCO Chair on Global Health & Education.
During the pre-conference, the challenges facing health promotion practitioners and researchers in establishing the effectiveness of their programmes and policies was discussed. Also alternatives to the traditional epistemological and methodological perspectives were explored. The statement of the pre-conference will be available early 2025. The presentations can be downloaded from the dedicated webpage.
Portuguese launch event of the UNESCO Chair Global Health & Education
The Portuguese launch event of the UNESCO Chair on Global Health & Education took place on 12 November 2024 during the 17th European Public Health Conference in Lisbon, Portugal. It was organised in collaboration with the Research Centre on Child Studies (CIEC), Institute of Education, University of Minho.
During the meeting the UNESCO Chair Global Health & Education was introduced and the collaborative research with University of Minho, Portugal, São Paulo State University, Brazil and Rovuma University, Mozambique on the safe re-opening of schools during COVID-19 was highlighted. The presentations can be downloaded from the dedicated webpage.
Partnership agreement UNESCO Chair and EUPHA
During the launch event the new partnership agreement between the UNESCO Chair and EUPHA was signed.
