The Expert Group on Public Health advises and guides the Commission on public health and health systems, about non-communicable diseases (such as cancer and mental health) and communicable diseases (such as HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis and hepatitis).
The expert group also advises on ways to address challenges concerning vaccination, long-COVID and antimicrobial resistance.
Concerted action across the policy spectrum helps to reduce human suffering and deliver much more to:
- Decrease the high economic and social burden of diseases,
- Strengthen national health and social welfare systems,
- Boost productivity and growth in economies, thanks to a healthy workforce.
All these achievements, in turn, will help Member States to meet the UN Sustainable Development Goals and the WHO targets on non-communicable diseases.
The Expert Group on Public Health replaces the previous ‘Steering Group on Health Promotion, Disease Prevention and Management of Non-Communicable Diseases’.
Policy implementation
The Commission chairs the meetings of the Expert Group on Public Health, which is composed of representatives of the Member States’ health ministries.
The Commission Decision setting up this expert group provides additional information on its tasks and operation. The Meetings of the Expert Group on Public Health occur twice yearly.
The Expert Group on Public Health will take forward the work developed in several areas, in particular on:
To support this, the Commission may set up sub-groups to address specific topics. These limited-time sub-groups report to the Expert Group on Public Health.. Currently, there are 4 sub-groups and one network:
- Sub-group on Mental health
- Sub-group on Vaccination
- Sub-group on Cancer
- Sub-group on Non-communicable diseases
- Network of Expertise on Long COVID
Resources
The work of the Expert Group on Public Health is supported by public health resources, such as:
- European Health Union
- A best practice portal for consulting and sharing best practices. Review of the EU Best Practice assessment process and portal
- Knowledge gateway on health promotion and disease prevention
- A healthcare quality hub
- Funding possibilities EU4Health 2021-2027 – a vision for a healthier European Union
- ‘Healthier together’ initiative
- Information on communicable diseases
- Health at a Glance