Europe’s public health advocates need to have bigger impact, conference hears

Europe’s public health professionals are failing to convince their governments that health is a societal “good” and that even in the financial crisis it makes economic sense to increase investment in health promotion and disease prevention, participants at last week’s annual European Health Forum in Bad Gastein, Austria agreed.

Concerns from public health experts about rising rates of obesity, non-communicable disease, and ageing populations are not being translated into effective advocacy, suggested Monica Kosinska, secretary general of the European Public Health Alliance. For example, …