European Public Health Alliance

EU Legislative Interests

EPHA's advocacy for better health in Europe targets policies that impact people's opportunities to be in good health and feel well, and policies that influence people's exposure to risk factors that impact health negatively. These are the policies that shape the environment in which people are born, grow up, live, work, and age. In public health, these factors are referred to as the social, environmental, commercial, digital, and political determinants of health. EPHA believes that to truly improve public health, the EU must adopt and commit to a health-in-all-policies approach. As such, EPHA targets policies across all of these determinants, organised in EPHA's seven Policy Clusters. The following list of (non-) legislative proposals and policies reflects the situation in August 2024. It might not be 100% complete: • Regulation (EU) No 1169/2011 on the provision of food information to consumers (FIC Regulation) – focus includes alcohol-related harm; health warning and ingredients labelling, marketing targeting youth, pricing, and availability. • Update of the Tobacco Products Directive to achieve a "Tobacco Free Generation" by 2040 and proposes measures to reduce tobacco use, including prohibitions on flavoured heated tobacco products • Legislative framework for sustainable food systems • Regulation (EC) No 1924/2006 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 20 December 2006 on nutrition and health claims made on foods • Common Agriculture Policy (CAP) • EU Emissions Trading System (EU ETS) • Healthier Together – EU Non-Communicable Diseases Initiative • Communication on Mental Health from the European Commission • Europe’s Beating Cancer Plan • Commission proposal for the Pharmaceutical Package • European Semester • European Pillar of Social Rights • The EU Anti-racism Action Plan 2020-2025 • Race Equality Directive 2000/43/EC • The EU Roma strategic framework 2020-2030 • The Strategy for the Rights of Persons with Disabilities 2021-2030 • The Gender Equality Strategy 2020-2025 • The LGBTIQ Equality Strategy 2020-2025 • The EU Strategy on the Rights of the Child • European Child Guarantee • Council Directive (EU) 2024/1499 on standards for equality bodies • European Care Strategy • Communication on Pharmaceutical Reform and Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR) • Proposal for a Directive of the European Parliament and of the Council on ambient air quality • Directive (EU) 2016/2284 on the reduction of national emissions of certain atmospheric pollutants • Regulation (EU) 2024/1257 on type-approval of motor vehicles and engines…with respect to their emissions and battery durability (Euro 7) • Communication on Securing our future Europe's 2040 climate target and path to climate neutrality by 2050 building a sustainable, just and prosperous society from the European Commission • Regulation (EU) 2024/1781 on establishing a framework for the setting of ecodesign requirements for sustainable products • Directive (EU) 2024/1275 on the energy performance of buildings • Regulation (EU) 2024/1610 on strengthening the CO2 emission performance standards for new heavy-duty vehicles and integrating reporting obligations • Regulation (EU) 2024/1689 on harmonised rules on artificial intelligence Artificial (Intelligence Act) • Digital Services Act (DSA) • Proposal for a Regulation on the European Health Data Space • Regulation (EU) 2021/2282 on health technology assessment • Defence of Democracy Package • Proposal for a Directive on European cross-border associations • EU Action Plan on Democracy and Human Rights • Better Regulation agenda

Communication Activities

In 2024, EPHA (co-)organised 12 external events, out of which seven were hybrid and five online, gathering over 689 attendees and another 524 views on our YouTube channels. EPHA attended 20 non-EPHA organised events as speaker/moderator, and 167 events as attendees. In addition, EPHA organised 32 cluster meetings, had 56 meetings with key stakeholders from international institutions and civil society, of which 13 meetings included policymakers. In 2024, 122 articles were published on the EPHA website include opinion pieces, statements, policy and position papers, reports, and public consultation responses. The primary communication platform utilised by EPHA is its website. In 2024, EPHA’s website reached 2,780,169 impressions and 55,344 clicks, which includes clicks on Google search results and clicks on the pages of EPHA’s website. EPHA’s social media outreach is carried out though LinkedIn, X (former Twitter), and YouTube. The figures below provide an overview of the total number of impressions and their distributions across channels as well as the number of followers across all channels which, in 2024, grew by 10% (+3,145). Significant changes to X have led many NGOs and individuals to leave the platform, consequently limiting EPHA’s outreach. The platform saw a 2% decrease in overall followers, so despite a 24% reduction in posts compared to 2023, impressions declined by 70% in 2024. This was a result of EPHA’s strategic decision to reduce posting frequency in Q3, in favour of meaningful engagement with key stakeholders on LinkedIn, as well as a conscious effort to limit time investment on a platform currently under EU investigation for political bias. Additionally, staff members also shifted focus away from X, prioritising LinkedIn and BlueSky instead. EPHA’s decreased activity on X aligns with a broader trend of Brussels-based organisations moving away from the platform and has encouraged EPHA to consider expanding its outreach on BlueSky. EPHA’s LinkedIn page experienced a notable rise in followers, with 3,401 new users joining - a 25% increase from the previous year. The page received a total of 395,333 impressions, with 91,874 coming from staff members’ activities, highlighting both EPHA’s and its team’s strong presence on social media. EPHA’s YouTube channel continued to grow, gaining 69 new subscribers and reaching a total of 312. In 2024, audiovisual content production increased, with 31 videos published on EPHA’s YouTube channel. These included 8 webinar recordings, 10 hybrid event recordings, and 13 campaign-related videos. The videos released in 2024 accumulated 6,239 views. Throughout 2024, EPHA’s videos amassed 11.9K views - 73% more than in 2023 - with a total watch time of 407.9 hours, representing a 31% increase from the previous year. These figures demonstrate the growing success of EPHA’s video content. EPHA’s digital communication efforts are further supported by regular mailings. Currently, EPHA distributes a monthly digital newsletter, event mailings, and specialised updates such as the Health Equity Feed. Between 2022 and 2023, the monthly newsletter saw a 10% increase in subscribers, reaching 6,003, while the Health Equity Feed grew by 20% to 2,606 subscribers. Meanwhile, the event mailing list expanded by 14%, reaching 3,935 subscribers. In 2024, these lists continued to grow, with the newsletter gaining 4% (+246 subscribers), the Health Equity Feed increasing by 12% (+323 subscribers), and the event mailing list rising by 17% (+554 subscribers). While EPHA’s average open rates almost align with the industry standard at 21%, the most remarkable achievement is its click-through rate, which stands at an impressive 71%.

Interests Represented

Does not represent commercial interests

Member Of

- EPHA has an official Memorandum of Understanding with the World Health Organization Regional Office for Europe (WHO Europe), since June 2023 - Health and Environment Alliance (HEAL): https://env-health.org/ - EU Alliance for Investing in Children (informal coalition): http://www.alliance4investinginchildren.eu/ - European Alliance for Responsible R&D and Affordable Medicines - EU Roma Coalition - EU Food Policy Coalition

Organisation Members

EPHA has a broad and versatile membership that links people and their needs and concerns to EU policy making. In August 2025, it consists of 42 organisations from 21 European countries, with 32 members from European Union (EU) Member States, three from European Free Trade Association (EFTA) countries, and 18 from countries from the wider World Health Organization (WHO) European region and international https://epha.org/about-us/membership/members-list/ Alzheimer Europe www.alzheimer-europe.org Association of European Cancer Leagues ECL www.cancer.eu Association of European Coeliac Societies AOECS www.aoecs.org Association of Natural Medicine in Europe ANME www.anme-ngo.eu Association of School of Public Health in the European Region ASPHER www.aspher.org Association of Vojvodina Physicians DLV SLD https://www.dlv.org.rs/ British Society of Lifestyle Medicine BSLM www.bslm.org.uk Bulgarian Association for Patients’ Rights Defence BAZP (BAPRD) Dachverband Komplementärmedizin Dakomed www.dakomed.ch Eurocam Eurocam www.cam-europe.eu/ European Association of Senior Hospital Physicians AEMH www.aemh.org European Cancer Organisation ECO www.europeancancer.org/ European Central Council of Homeopaths ECCH www.homeopathy-ecch.org European Confederation for Primary Care Paediatricians ECPCP www.ecpcp.eu European Committee for Homeopathy ECH www.homeopathyeurope.org European Council of Optometry and Optics ECOO www.ecoo.info European Independent Foundation in Angiology/ Vascular Medicine VAS EU www.vas-int.net European Institute of Women’s Health EIWH www.eurohealth.ie European Lifestyle Medicine Council ELMC www.europeanlmc.org European Liver Patients’ Association ELPA www.elpa.eu European Network for Smoking and Tobacco Prevention ENSP www.ensp.org European Pharmaceutical Students’ Association EPSA www.epsa-online.org European Respiratory Society ERS www.ersnet.org European Society for Organ Transplantation ESOT www.esot.org Federation Europeenne des Medecins Salariés (European Federation of Salaried Doctors) FEMS www.fems.net Global Institute for Mental Health Innovations, Networking and Development Global In Mind www.globalinmind.eu The Health and Europe Centre HEC www.healthandeuropecentre.nhs.uk Hungarian Alliance of Patient Organisations BEMOSZ-HAPO www.bemosz.hu Infectious Disease Alliance IDA www.id-alliance.org International Diabetes Federation – European Region IDF www.idf-europe.org International Society of Doctors for the Environment Italy ISDE Italy https://www.isde.it/ International Federation of Anthroposophical Medical Associations IVAA www.ivaa.info JOGG JOGG https://jogg.nl/ Malta Health Network MHN www.maltahealthnetwork.org Medici Pentru România https://medicipentruromania.ro/ No Gravity http://www.no-gravity.sk/ Osteopathy Europe https://osteopathyeurope.org/ Platform for Support of Health of Disadvantaged Groups PPZZS Polish Society for Health Programs PSHP – PTPZ www.ptpz.pl Royal College of Nursing RCN www.rcn.org.uk Safe Food Advocacy Europe SAFE www.safefoodadvocacy.eu Slovenian Coalition for Public Health, Environment and Tobacco Control SCTC www.tobak-zveza.si Tallinn Children’s Hospital Foundation TCHF www.toetusfond.ee Youth Health Organization International YHO www.yho.network