Achieving Health Equity through Stronger Actions Against Racism & Discrimination

Racism and discrimination are fundamental determinants of health. Despite the increasing evidence for the impact of racism and discrimination on both mental and physical health inequities in multiple ways, the issue has gained too little attention in the public health domain so far.

The European Public Health Alliance (EPHA) has initiated and led the pan-European Thematic Network DisQo: anti-discrimination and health equity (DisQo), bringing together more than 40 organizations and individuals, with the shared ambition to address institutional and structural racism and discrimination for health equity.

In May 2023, DisQo sent a joint statement to the European Commission’s Directorate-General for Health and Food Safety (DG SANTE), calling for stronger action against racism and discrimination to achieve health equity.

WFPHA joins organizations working across sectors in this call and commits to taking an active stance against all forms of racism and discrimination.

WFPHA at WHA76: Constituency Statement on Universal Health Coverage

The 76th session of the World Health Assembly (WHA) takes place in Geneva, Switzerland, on May 21–30, 2023.

The World Federation of Public Health Associations (WFPHA) joins several non-State actors in official relations with the World Health Organization (WHO) to provide a strong constituency statement calling for reorienting health systems to primary health care as a resilient foundation for Universal Health Coverage (UHC).

WFPHA at WHA76: An Individual Statement on INB

The 76th session of the World Health Assembly (WHA) takes place in Geneva, Switzerland, on May 21–30, 2023.

The World Federation of Public Health Associations (WFPHA) attends WHA76 with a strong statement addressing the Intergovernmental Negotiating Body (INB) negotiations.

High-Level Symposium on Health Policy & Personalized Medicine for Cancer: Projecting Europe-China Collaboration in the Global Arena

The World Federation of Public Health Associations (WFPHA) organizes the High-Level Symposium on Health Policy and Personalized Medicine for Cancer: Projecting Europe-China Collaboration in the Global Arena, which is set to take place in Geneva, Switzerland, on May 26, 2023, in conjunction with the World Health Assembly.

This symposium marks an important occasion for presenting the main results of the Integrating China in the International Consortium for Personalized Medicine (IC2PerMed) project and discussing the implementation of policies and programs on personalized medicine for cancer and beyond at the national and international level.

The symposium starts with a presentation of a roadmap created by the IC2PerMed project over the past four years. The roadmap aims to promote consistent approaches to personalized medicine research, development, innovation, and policies between the People’s Republic of China and the European Union.

The symposium continues with three panels. The first panel, chaired by Bettina Borisch, Executive Director of the WFPHA, discusses how to transform the roadmap into an effective program at the national level by mobilizing funding and commitments from policymakers across various countries. This panel features world-renowned speakers from various countries, including Walter Ricciardi, President of Mission Board for Cancer of European Commission; WenYa Wang, Tsinghua University; Ricardo Baptista-Leite, former member of the Portuguese Parliament and Chief Executive Officer of I-DAIR; and Carlos Gadelha, Secretary of Science, Technology, and Innovation of the Brazilian Ministry of Health.

The second panel, chaired by Stefania Boccia, Professor of Hygiene, Preventive Medicine, and Public Health at the Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore in Rome, focuses on data, access, accountability, and innovation. The panel features influential speakers from the health industry, big data, and innovation sectors, including Ejner Moltzen, ICPerMed Coordinator; Denis Horgan, Director of the European Alliance for Personalised Medicine; and Zisis Kozlakidis, Head of Laboratory Support, Biobanking, and Services at the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC), just to name a few.

The third panel, chaired by Walter Ricciardi, President of Mission Board for Cancer of European Commission, focuses on the empowerment of health professionals. This panel brings together experts who are well-versed in the challenges and opportunities for implementing personalized medicine programs in the healthcare sector. High-level speakers from the main health-related non-governmental organizations, including Howard Catton, Chief Executive Officer of the International Council of Nurses; Otmar Kloiber, Secretary General of the World Medical Association; Cary Adams, Chief Executive Officer of the Union for International Cancer Control; and Ronald Lavater, Chief Executive Officer of the International Hospital Federation, confirmed their participation at this panel.

This symposium represents a milestone in the harmonization and implementation of effective approaches to personalized medicine, creating common ground for the wider implementation of personalized medicine globally.

EUPHA Joined WFPHA to Stand in Solidarity with the Ugandan LGBT Community – Denounce the Ugandan Anti-Homosexuality Act (2023)

On March 21, 2023, the Ugandan Parliament passed the Anti-Homosexuality Act (2023). By criminalizing same-sex conduct, the Act criminalizes all lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) Ugandans, the provision of services to LGBT Ugandans, and the dissemination of information about the LGBT community. The Act also requires Ugandans to report any individual who is suspected of being LGBT and forbids the sheltering of a LGBT person. The Act also provides for the death penalty for the crime of ‘aggravated homosexuality’. By undermining access to medical services by at-risk populations, the Act also threatens to undermine Uganda’s proud record of HIV prevention and control built over three decades. President Museveni has agreed to assent to the Act after changes are made regarding ‘rehabilitation’.

LGBT persons have existed throughout human history and across cultures. Natural variations of sexual orientation and gender identity exist regardless of enacted laws and policies. Beyond the direct and obvious consequences that the law will have on the health and human rights of those prosecuted, it will also have broader detrimental public health impacts. Research has shown that structural anti-LGBT legal climates further promote hostility, violence, and harassment against LGBT individuals (Hatzenbuehler et al. 2019; Van der Star et al. 2020) as well as directly jeopardize a plethora of health outcomes across the entire community, including psychological distress (Van der Star et al. 2021), life satisfaction and wellbeing (Van der Star & Bränström, 2015; Pachankis & Bränström, 2018), risk for psychiatric disorders (Hatzenbuehler et al. 2010), and suicidal ideation (Pachankis et al. 2021).

In addition to these direct ramifications for LGBT health in Uganda, the negative public anti-LGBT discourse surrounding the Act may also instigate harassment and discrimination (Hatzenbuehler et al. 2019) as well as reduce psychological wellbeing (Frost & Fingerhut, 2016) among LGBT Ugandans and their families, friends, and close communities.

In 1995, Uganda acceded to the United Nations’ (UN) International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR; UN Treaty Collection, 2023). For some 30 years, the Covenant has been interpreted to include protections against discrimination based on sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, and sex characteristics (UN OHCHR, 2019). UN legal experts have stated that the imposition of the death penalty based on the Act is per se an arbitrary killing and a breach of article 6 of the ICCPR (UN OHCHR, 2023). An official Ugandan Parliamentary briefing on the Bill incorrectly asserted that international law does not apply because the Constitution of Uganda ‘specifically bars sexual acts between sexual minorities’, while it does not. As a matter of international law, no country’s national constitution or other laws can be assumed to override its international legal obligations.

The European Public Health Association (EUPHA) has joined the WFPHA to call on the Ugandan President, Parliament and Government to foster an inclusive and safe environment for all citizens, while safeguarding the human rights of each individual, irrespective of their sexual orientation or gender identity.

Hugh R. Leavell Award 2023

The Hugh R. Leavell Award is the highest honor bestowed by WFPHA. It is a true accolade of the profession, the recognition by an individual’s colleagues of her or his outstanding accomplishments in the field of global public health leadership. This award is presented at the World Congress on Public Health.

The WFPHA established this award as a memorial to one of its founding members, Dr Hugh Rodman Leavell (1902-1966). Dr Leavell was Executive Secretary of the WFPHA from 1968 to 1972. He was responsible for many of the early developments of the WFPHA, including its recognition as a non-governmental organization in official relations with the World Health Organization (WHO).

During 17th World Congress on Public Health (WCPH), the WFPHA has the honor to present the Hugh R. Leavell Award 2023 to Prof. Walter Ricciardi.

As a professor of Hygiene, Preventive Medicine and Public Health at Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore of Rome since 2000, Prof. Ricciardi has been involved in several national and international commitments. He is the President of the Mission Board for Cancer of the European Commission and chairing the Scientific Committee of Human Technopole Foundation.

Prof. Ricciardi is also the Founder and Director of the Italian Observatory on Healthcare since 2002, which is an essential resource for monitoring the Italian healthcare system. He has also been an advisor to the Italian Minister of Health during the COVID-19 pandemic, providing strategic advice since the beginning and shaping the national response to the pandemic in terms of interventions.

Moreover, Prof. Ricciardi has held several prominent positions in the public health sector, including being the President of the European Public Health Association (EUPHA) from 2003 to 2004 and from 2010 to 2014, and the President of the WFPHA from 2020 to 2022. He was also a member of the Executive Board of the WHO from November 2017 to May 2020.

Throughout his career, Prof. Ricciardi has changed the vision of public health by emphasizing the importance of communication, leadership, networking, and team building at different levels. He has also been recognized for his outstanding contributions to public health, including receiving the “Laurea Honoris Causa” at Thomas Jefferson University in Philadelphia, USA, in 2019 and being appointed “Commendatore” of the Italian Republic in 2017.

Overall, Prof. Walter Ricciardi is an outstanding researcher and representative of the public health sector, not only in Italy but also globally. He has dedicated his career to improving public health, and his contributions have been widely recognized. The Hugh R. Leavell Award is a well-deserved recognition of his outstanding achievements and contributions to public health, and we congratulate him on this remarkable accomplishment.