Policy Area Health
PA Health is working on improving the health and social well-being of all citizens in the Baltic Sea Region.
The Baltic Sea Region is still an area of considerable disparities in health and social conditions. It features places where social and economic problems cause high levels of mortality due to non-communicable diseases, violence, alcohol and drug use and the spread of infectious diseases. Further, the growing cross-border movement of people needs to be paralleled by actions addressing inequalities in health status and in the level of health protection.
A healthy population in the Baltic Sea Region is a prerequisite for productivity, economic competitiveness and further development. The Policy Area Health strives to raise awareness among other policy areas for the impact of their domain on health and for the need to implement a Health in All Policies (HiAP) approach. This is an approach that improves accountability of policymakers for health impacts at all levels of policy-making including emphasis on the consequences of public policies on health systems and determinants of health and well-being.
PA Health is currently coordinated by the Northern Dimension Partnership in Public Health and Social Well-being (NDPHS) based in Stockholm, Sweden.
Actions
PA Health has an established structure of thematic experts and a network of stakeholders in the region. In addition to the NDPHS Partner Organisations, several stakeholders from civil society,academia, as well as national, regional and local authorities are involved in the implementation of PA
Health activities and projects.
Promoting active and healthy ageing to address the challenges of demographic change.
As in many other regions of the world, the population in the Baltic Sea Region is affected by demographic change. This presents great opportunities for the societies of the region, as well as challenges to adapt, in particular the health and care systems.
Promoting a Health in All Policies approach with focus on the impact of environmental factors, and especially climate change on human health.
This Action aims to integrate health in all EU policies and sectors with a focus on environmental and climate challenges on human health. Health is interconnected with many different policy areas and sectors. While health and well-being of the population impact the success of other sectors, e.g. labour and education, the policies of other areas can have a large impact on health, e.g. climate, environment and finance. It is therefore crucial to improve the awareness of policymakers from other sectors to understand and analyse the
health impact of policies in their sector. In particular, PA Health seeks to explore the connection between antimicrobial resistance and the environment, including relating to food production and pharmaceutical use and manufacturing.
PA Health strives to engage an increased amount of stakeholders across the Baltic Sea Region policy areas to promote the Health in All Policies (HiAP) approach.
Increasing stakeholder and institutional capacity to tackle regional health challenges.
Enabling capacity building and shared learning through networking, knowledge-brokering and training activities. This action is designed to further enhance the skills and knowledge of regional stakeholders to develop and utilise strategic policy instruments that contribute to the health and social well-being of citizens in the Baltic Sea Region.