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19.06.2026
Investing in prevention: a conversation on why the next EU budget matters for health
JA PreventNCD has published a position paper calling for stronger EU investment in health promotion, non-communicable disease prevention and health equity in the next Multiannual Financial Framework. The Multiannual Financial Framework, often referred to as the MFF, is the European Union’s long-term budget. It shapes what the EU can invest in over several years and sets important signals for future priorities. For public health, this matters because long-term investment decisions can influence whether prevention, health promotion and equity are supported in practice. To explain the context behind the publication, we spoke with Prof. Knut-Inge Klepp, Scientific Coordinator of JA PreventNCD; Caroline Costongs, Director of EuroHealthNet; and Dr. Mojca Gabrijelčič, Senior Adviser at the National Institute of Public Health in Slovenia and leader of the sustainability work in JA PreventNCD. Together, they explain why this is an important moment to speak up for prevention, why EU funding matters for health equity, and what is needed to make prevention more sustainable across Europe.
https://www.preventncd.eu/newsroom/interviews/investing-in-prevention-a-conversation-on-why-the-next-eu-budget-matters-for-health/
29.05.2026
Coordinating Efforts for Healthier Living Environments in Pula, Croatia
Between 26 and 28 May, multidisciplinary and cross-sector teams working on the transformation of Healthy Living Environments across Europe travelled to Croatia to pool their efforts and share their insights in the fight against non-communicable diseases (NCDs). The JA PreventNCD Healthy Living Environments annual meeting, held in Pula, Croatia, and organised by the Croatian Institute of Public Health (CIPH), opened with a clear and inspiring message: preventing cancer and other non-communicable diseases requires healthier environments, stronger policy action, and a shared commitment to making prevention part of everyday life. Over three days, participants discussed policies, interventions and research initiatives aimed at creating healthier places to live, learn, work and play. Through plenary sessions, thematic discussions and collaborative workshops, the meeting provided an opportunity to strengthen cooperation and advance a shared European agenda for prevention.
https://www.preventncd.eu/newsroom/news-updates/coordinating-efforts-for-healthier-living-environments-in-pula-croatia/
29.05.2026
New campaign to make prevention clearer and more accessible
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."
https://www.preventncd.eu/newsroom/interviews/new-campaign-to-make-prevention-clearer-and-more-accessible/
04.05.2026
Health in All Policies: aligning decisions across society with public health
This article is part of a special series for European Public Health Week, highlighting how JA PreventNCD contributes to each of this year’s daily themes and supports stronger prevention across Europe. European Public Health Week is taking place this week, with this year’s overarching theme focusing on investing for sustainable health and well-being. The week opened with a daily theme that is highly relevant to JA PreventNCD: aligning all policies with public health. This theme is closely connected to one of the central ideas behind JA PreventNCD: preventing major chronic diseases requires action far beyond the healthcare system. Many of Europe’s greatest health challenges, including cancer, cardiovascular diseases, diabetes, chronic respiratory diseases and mental health conditions, are often referred to as non-communicable diseases, or NCDs. Unlike infectious diseases, they are not passed directly from person to person, but they are strongly shaped by the environments people live in and the conditions that influence everyday choices. The food available to people, the way cities are planned, opportunities for physical activity, working conditions, education, housing, transport, environmental quality and social support all affect health and well-being. This idea is at the heart of Health in All Policies, which is an important part of JA PreventNCD’s work. Following the recent Wellbeing Economy Forum in Reykjavík, where participants explored how societies can redefine success around health, well-being and sustainability, the theme feels especially timely. To mark European Public Health Week, we spoke with Katri Sääksjärvi, from the Finnish Institute for Health and Welfare (THL), who leads the Health in All Policies work in JA PreventNCD, about why this approach matters and how it can support stronger prevention across Europe.
https://www.preventncd.eu/newsroom/news-updates/health-in-all-policies-aligning-decisions-across-society-with-public-health/
29.04.2026
Health-Friendly Companies
This editorial is featured in the Healthy Living Environment Newsletter #2. You can subscribe here to stay updated. Cancer and other chronic non-communicable diseases (NCDs) represent a significant part of the disease burden in Europe, much of which is preventable. The Joint Action to Prevent Non-communicable Diseases (JA PreventNCD) is designed to address this challenge by supporting strategies and policies aimed at reducing the burden of cancer and NCDs, focusing on personal and social risk factors. The task for “Increasing availability of healthy products” mobilize actions on the determinants of health through the political commitment by intersectoral policies and the participation of the community at local level; promoting social cohesion to co-create actions for healthy living environments with equity perspective. The workplace, where people spend a large part of their time and their entire lives, is precisely the area where personal and environmental factors related to health habits either confront or positively combine. This clash of personal habits and health conditions in the work environment can have a synergistic effect on the individual in both a good and a bad direction. However, the fact is that it is easier to spoil the good habits of an individual if there are no supporting conditions, than to expect that all healthy habits will survive and that the individual will positively influence the problematic work environment and change it for the better. Therefore, the intervention of society (workplace, employer, local or national government) is indispensable for positive developments in preserving the health of the individual and society as a whole. The specific objectives we are focused on are: to implement workplace policies that will contribute to the workers opting for the healthier choice, reduce health inequalities, reduce the availability of alcohol and smoking and encourage physical activity and a socially acceptable work environment.
https://www.preventncd.eu/newsroom/editorials/health-friendly-companies/
18.03.2026
From Strategies to Action: A Future Without Non-Communicable Diseases - Slovenian National Stakeholder Forum
“It is important to understand all the parameters that influence the competitiveness of a society, which is not economic growth alone, but also the health and wellbeing of individuals.” This was a key message that emerged in the Slovenian national stakeholder forum. On 11 March 2026, the National Institute of Public Health organised the National Stakeholder Meeting of the JA PreventNCD, aimed at presenting the activities of the Joint Action from the Slovenian side and exchanging knowledge among key national stakeholders in the field of preventing non-communicable diseases. The event programme followed several thematic segments. In the introductory part, it included a keynote lecture on the use of quantitative models and artificial intelligence in evaluating public health policies, as well as presentations of the objectives and activities of the JA PreventNCD. The discussion highlighted the importance of high-quality, connected data systems, which are essential for informed decision-making. This was followed by presentations of individual thematic work packages of the Joint Action, with emerging key messages: Tobacco, nicotine, and alcohol: legislation works only if it is properly enforced. Public food procurement: a powerful tool for population change. Breastfeeding-friendly communities: there is still a spread of misinformation. Cancer monitoring: improved data integration enables better understanding of costs, disease pathways, and recurrence. Sleep as a public health issues highlights sleep as a key pillar of health. Healthy communities: local pilot initiatives such as healthy food in kindergarten, shows that change can start at the community level. Youth engagement: the Youth Advisory Group demonstrates that youth can be active contributors in the effort of reducing the burden of non-communicable disease. The event concluded with a presentation of work on the sustainability of the project, which places particular emphasis on the concept of the wellbeing economy – with the aim of creating measures that promote quality of life while not exceeding planetary capacities. During the event, participants acknowledged and encouraged the importance of work on the prevention of non-communicable diseases and the promotion of healthy lifestyles through measures to reduce tobacco use, alcohol consumption, unhealthy food consumption, and by encouraging physical activity. Only with shared societal effort, there can be a real lever for change. The event successfully brought together key stakeholders of the Joint Action and highlighted the importance of coordinated measures for the prevention of non-communicable diseases at the European, national, and regional levels of Member States.
https://www.preventncd.eu/newsroom/news-updates/from-strategies-to-action-a-future-without-non-communicable-diseases-slovenian-national-stakeholder-forum/
30.01.2026
Editorial: First 1.000 days of life
Why should Europe and public health systems invest in the first 1.000 days of life, from pregnancy to a child’s second birthday? What does this early window have to do with the development of non-communicable diseases (NCDs) decades later? The answer lies in a growing and compelling body of evidence: the foundations of lifelong health are laid well before birth. Since the 1980s, David Barker demonstrated the link between adverse conditions during fetal life and early infancy, particularly poor nutrition, and an increased risk of chronic diseases in adulthood, including cardiovascular disease and diabetes. This work laid the scientific foundations for what is now widely known as the “first 1,000 days” concept. The first 1.000 days represent a uniquely sensitive period in which biological, social, and environmental exposures interact to shape metabolic regulation, immune function, cognitive development, and health-related behaviours. Crucially, this phase also constitutes an extraordinary window of opportunity: expectant parents and caregivers are often highly motivated and receptive to revisiting their health-related choices to secure the best possible start in life for their babies. Investing upstream during this critical period is therefore not only a matter of child wellbeing; it is a strategic lever for preventing NCDs, reducing health inequalities, and strengthening the long-term sustainability of European health systems.
https://www.preventncd.eu/newsroom/editorials/editorial-first-1000-days-of-life/