JA PreventNCD is preparing to launch a new campaign aimed at policymakers, professionals, communities and the wider public, helping more people understand what prevention is about and why healthier choices must be made easier, fairer and more accessible for everyone.
The campaign will be presented during the JA PreventNCD General Assembly in Rome, taking place from 9–11 June 2026 at the Istituto Superiore di Sanità. The General Assembly will bring partners together to share project achievements, reflect on progress and discuss the way forward for strengthening prevention across Europe. The launch session, “Campaigns as a Strategic Tool in Today’s Attention Economy: Premiere of JA PreventNCD’s New Campaign,” will be presented by Live Bøe Johannesen from the Norwegian Directorate of Health.
The campaign focuses on four major shared risk factors for cancer and other non-communicable diseases: alcohol, tobacco and nicotine, nutrition and physical activity. It uses clear, accessible and motivating messages to show how prevention is connected to everyday life, from what people eat and how active they are to the environments, products, policies and communities that shape health.
To learn more about the thinking behind the campaign, we spoke with Thea Nørgaard Breili from the Norwegian Directorate of Health, project leader of the campaign, about its aims, messages and development process.
Can you briefly introduce the new JA PreventNCD campaign and explain what it aims to achieve?
"The campaign aims to put prevention of NCDs on the agenda for both stakeholders, policymakers and general public. We aim to increase awareness of the benefits of prevention, highlight accessible measures that can be implemented, and strengthen public support for potential interventions.
Non-communicable diseases are often discussed using specialised public health terminology, but many of the risk factors are closely connected to everyday life. What people eat, how active they are, whether tobacco, nicotine or alcohol products are widely available, and how communities are planned all influence health.
The campaign shows that prevention is not only about telling individuals to change their behaviour. It is also about creating healthier environments through policy, regulation, planning, services and community action."
What are the campaign’s key messages?
"The key message shared across the campaign is that through small changes, whether structural or personal, we can all contribute to better health, both in the short and long term.
This applies to stakeholders, policymakers and the general public. The campaign shows that everyone has a role to play, from those shaping policies and environments to individuals and communities taking practical steps in everyday life."
The campaign was developed in close collaboration with participating member countries. How did that collaboration shape the final concept and messaging?
"The collaboration helped us see prevention from many different perspectives. JA PreventNCD brings together partners from across Europe, and that diversity has been important in shaping a campaign that can appeal to a broader audience.
At the same time, the collaboration pushed us to define and prioritise a shared direction that all partners could support and work towards together. Through this process, we identified a set of unifying and important messages that strengthen both the collaboration and the overall communication of the project."
How did you balance the need for a shared European campaign with different national contexts, languages and public health priorities?
"JA PreventNCD has chosen to focus on four shared risk factors: alcohol, tobacco and nicotine, nutrition and physical activity. This gives us a common starting point that all partners can recognise and build from.
Based on this, and in close cooperation with the thematic coordinators, we developed simple and important messages that are aligned with research and evidence, while still being easy to understand and motivating for the audience.
Creating messages that are relevant across different countries and public health priorities can be challenging. But this process helped us lift our gaze and focus on the overarching messages that apply across contexts.
To make the material more inclusive, we included different ethnicities, personalities and characters while keeping one clear storyline. The animated world also gives us more freedom in how we show the setting. It does not have to be one specific real place, or it could be anywhere. The film includes elements such as a city, suburban areas, trees, roads, parks and houses, with the idea that it should not be too clear whether we are in Northern or Southern Europe."
Live Bøe Johannesen, from the Norwegian Directorate of Health
In the General Assembly in Rome, the presentation refers to “today’s attention economy.” Can you tell us shortly what that means?
"Today’s audiences must navigate an increasingly fragmented and chaotic media landscape, where commercial interests and social media influencers are often treated as equally credible as established institutions.
As trust becomes harder to place, our role as a reliable, independent and sober voice is more important than ever. This is something my colleague from the Norwegian Directorate of Health, Live Bøe Johannesen, will elaborate on during the campaign launch at the General Assembly."
Public health messages compete with commercial messages, misinformation and short attention spans. How does this campaign try to break through that noise?
"This will always be a big challenge, and perhaps even bigger when we talk about health messaging. But that does not mean health authorities should be absent from the media landscape.
It is important to be present with evidence-based prevention messages in social media and other communication channels. This campaign provides the countries with easy, understandable and motivating campaign material ready to use.
Through the campaign, JA PreventNCD aims to make prevention more visible, understandable and actionable, helping more people see how small changes, supportive environments and shared responsibility can contribute to better health across Europe."
Through this work, JA PreventNCD aims to support a stronger shared conversation on prevention, showing how policies, environments, communities and everyday choices all play a role in reducing the burden of cancer and other non-communicable diseases.
For more information about the JA PreventNCD General Assembly in Rome, including the full agenda, visit: General Assembly 2026
