The 19th European Public Health Conference takes place in Bilbao, Spain, from 11–13 November 2026, with JA PreventNCD contributing to an extensive programme of workshops, scientific presentations and discussions on some of Europe's most pressing public health challenges.
Following its involvement in two pre-conferences on 10 November, focusing on the commercial determinants of health and the EU Safe Hearts Plan, the Joint Action will continue its participation throughout the main conference.
With contributions to six workshops and interactive sessions, alongside nine scientific presentations, JA PreventNCD partners will share research findings, experiences and practical approaches from across the project. Topics range from health equity, public participation and healthier environments to prevention policies, health communication and improved monitoring of non-communicable diseases (NCDs).
As JA PreventNCD approaches its fourth and final year in 2027, results from activities across Europe are increasingly taking shape. The contributions in Bilbao reflect this progress, with emerging research findings, experiences from pilot activities and practical approaches that can inform prevention policies and their implementation. Many more results and outputs are expected throughout the project's final year.
Turning prevention policies into practical action
Effective prevention requires more than evidence and policy commitments. It also depends on the capacity of policymakers, public health professionals and communities to translate that knowledge into action.
Several JA PreventNCD contributions will examine this challenge from different perspectives.
On 11 November, the workshop Beyond mentioning inequities: How to operationalize equity in health strategies and plans will explore how countries can move from acknowledging health inequalities to addressing them through concrete policy objectives, actions and monitoring. Drawing on an analysis of national policies across 17 European countries, participants will examine practical ways to strengthen health equity in national strategies.
Local implementation will be another important focus. A workshop on harmonising health promotion methodologies will share experiences from JA PreventNCD's pilot activities across Europe, examining how community participation, collaboration across sectors and equity-focused approaches can help municipalities develop more effective health promotion initiatives.
The role of citizens and communities in shaping public health decisions will also be explored through Citizen Engagement and Social Participation: From Policy to Practice in Public Health. This session will examine how meaningful stakeholder and youth participation can become a more established part of public health governance, drawing on experiences from different countries and JA PreventNCD.
Other sessions will address the influence of commercial interests on health, using examples from fossil fuels and infant formula to explore conflicts of interest and approaches to protecting public health decision-making.
Communication also has an important role in supporting implementation. On 13 November, JA PreventNCD, JACARDI and WHO/Europe will lead a practical workshop on Building Effective Public Health Communication Strategies, exploring how strategic communication can strengthen public understanding, build trust and support evidence-based policies.
Strengthening the evidence and tools for prevention
Alongside these interactive sessions, JA PreventNCD partners will present scientific findings that can help improve how prevention policies and interventions are designed, implemented and monitored.
Several contributions focus on improving Europe's capacity to monitor NCD risk factors. These include research on whether existing surveillance systems adequately capture ultra-processed food consumption, comparisons of nutrition indicators across European countries, and methods for pooling and harmonising national health survey data.
Related research will examine how the effects of front-of-pack nutrition labels on consumer behaviour are studied, identifying opportunities to improve the quality and comparability of evidence.
Monitoring policies themselves is equally important. A session organised by JA PreventNCD and WHO/Europe will explore the development of an integrated composite index for NCD prevention policies, intended to support more systematic assessment of their design, implementation and enforcement across countries.
Other scientific contributions will explore how healthier environments and policies can be developed locally. These include a One Health approach to evaluating car-free areas around schools in French cities, lessons from implementing Health in All Policies across six countries, and an analysis of how health equity is reflected in national NCD prevention policies.
Practical approaches to prevention and care will also feature, including research on training healthcare professionals to deliver group-based smoking cessation interventions and a pilot implementation in Greece of the WHO Integrated Care for Older People (ICOPE) approach.
Together, these contributions illustrate the breadth of JA PreventNCD's activities, from strengthening monitoring and evidence to supporting local implementation and policy development.
Across Europe, many effective approaches to NCD prevention are already known. The challenge is ensuring they are applied consistently, adapted to local needs and supported by the policies and resources required for lasting impact.
As JA PreventNCD moves towards its final year, sharing emerging findings and practical experiences will become increasingly important, alongside efforts to support their uptake and sustainability beyond the project's lifetime.
The European Public Health Conference offers an opportunity to present this work, exchange experiences with colleagues across Europe and explore how the knowledge and approaches developed through JA PreventNCD can strengthen prevention in practice.
Explore JA PreventNCD's participation at EPH 2026
The 19th European Public Health Conference takes place from 11–13 November 2026 at the Euskalduna Conference Centre in Bilbao, Spain, with pre-conferences on 10 November.
For an overview of JA PreventNCD's workshops, scientific contributions and pre-conferences, visit the JA PreventNCD event page.
The official EPH Conference programme provides further details on presentations, speakers and session locations.
