Health literacy Archives

The idea of a cough being fatal brings up images of coal mining, hollow-cheeked children and Charles Dickens novels. But are we really past the time when a simple cough could kill you?

Stricter rules on smoking, reimbursed anti-smoking programmes and smoke-free public places are among the ways to prevent chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) from being a public health crisis, says Mikaela Odemyr.

Organisations of patients with rare diseases have warned EU policymakers to “think carefully” before reviewing the incentives in the orphan drugs regulation, claiming that the pharma industry should not be discouraged from investing in new therapies.

As long as the political will exists, a coalition of EU member states can speed up the healthcare data mobility in Europe and start showing results in a cross-border manner in order for others to join, an Estonian government official told EURACTIV.

“Salami-slicing” the cost of medicines, which represent almost one-fifth of health system budgets and are subject to rigorous value assessments, won’t make healthcare systems more sustainable in the future, Nathalie Moll told EURACTIV.com in an interview.

Faced with alarming childhood obesity cases, the European Commission is calling on member states to take action in the procurement of healthy food for schools.

MEPs from the Socialist & Democrats are pushing back against the latest attempts by the right-wing government in Warsaw to clamp down on access to contraception, calling it an “attack on women".

The medical community is concerned about the growing number abortions in Greece as well as the lack of sex education among teenagers.

Efforts to digitalise healthcare for chronic disease patients – including those suffering from diabetes – are helpful, according to the European Public Health Alliance (EPHA). But the move towards digitalisation should not exacerbate existing health inequalities, it warns.

The Maltese EU presidency will seek more transparency in the way pharmaceutical companies negotiate with member states on medicines’ pricing, Health Minister Chris Fearne said in an interview with EURACTIV.

On World AIDS Day, many are hopeful that it will be possible to eliminate a killer disease that is set to affect more than one billion people by 2030, writes Cecile Vernant.

One in seven people with HIV in Europe is unaware of their infection, the EU and World Health Organization reported Tuesday (29 November) as 2015 marked another record year for new HIV cases in the region.

Alzheimer’s disease and other forms of dementia remain underdiagnosed in most European countries, Jean Georges told EURACTIV.

The European Union is stepping up efforts to combat dementia, but is being urged to do more, as 18.7 million EU citizens are expected to suffer from the illness by 2050.

Malta has the highest proportion of obese adults in Europe, according to EU figures released yesterday (20 October), while Romania is the least obese.

The European Commission is determined to further strengthen its antimicrobial resistance action for the period beyond 2016, an EU official has told EURACTIV.com, dismissing allegations that the EU executive lacks the political will to do so.

The decision of a pro-glyphosate lobby to grant public access via reading rooms to proprietary studies on the weed-killer’s safety has been the subject of a new intense row with NGOs.

The UK's vote to leave the European Union has come at a crucial moment in the development of an international medical project that throws into sharp relief the state of flux Brexit has cast over collaborative research, says Jack Barton.

A new breed of drugs, called “value added medicines”, could help patients improve their everyday life while in treatment, without increasing healthcare budgets, Christoph Stoller said in an interview with EURACTIV.com

Decision-makers should stop ignoring risk factors like tobacco, which causes deaths that could have been avoided, Health Commissioner Vytenis Andriukaitis told EURACTIV.com.

SPECIAL REPORT / People who are well-versed in health issues make better lifestyle choices, avoid developing chronic diseases and lead longer lives. But with health literacy varying greatly across the EU, campaigners are calling for action from politicians.

Corporations and academics have teamed up to back a blueprint to improve health literacy in the workplace, saying healthier lifestyles help employees and boost their productivity.

As the EU moves forward on the joint action and other initiatives to promote health literacy, healthy lifestyles and the prevention of diseases, oral health should not be forgotten, say Karin Kadenbach and Kenneth Eaton.