20th European Health Forum Gastein Dates and 2017 Award Candidates

The winner of the European Health Award 2017 will be announced at the 20^thEuropean Health Forum Gastein (EHFG)-which will be held in the Gastein Valley from October 4-6. Six cutting-edge projects are in the running for the €10,000 award. The award is sponsored by the Austrian Federal Ministry of Health and FOPI, which brings together Austria’s research pharma and biotechnology companies.

The European Health Award honors initiatives aiming to improve public health or health care in Europe. Important criteria includes that more than one European country should be involved in the initiative, it should show innovation and be sustainable, and that the results are transferable to other states and address a significant health threat.

“The purpose of the European Health Award is to honour initiatives which have made a significant contribution in addressing major challenges that the European health systems are facing today“, says newly elected EHFG President Dr Clemens Martin Auer. “The EHFG is a superb market place of great ideas for health reforms in the EU Member States. My aim is to transform great visions into reality in order to effectively improve the health of Europe’s citizens. Our Award perfectly serves this purpose by promoting cross-border cooperation and the development of sustainable & innovative best practice initiatives.”

Last year's award went to the European Antibiotics Awareness Day, which is aimed at providing a platform to support national campaigns on the prudent use of antibiotics and is coordinated by the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC).

The 2017 short-list in detail:

Project 1: Education Against Tobacco (EAT) http://educationtobacco.org/

Through EAT more than 1,500 medical students from 28 German, four Austrian, and two Swiss medical schools educate 23,800 adolescents in the classroom setting per year, educate hundreds of prospective physicians for tobacco cessation in inpatient settings, and conduct the largest school-based tobacco prevention trials worldwide.

Project 2: EUropean Refugees - HUman Movement and Advisory Network (EUR-HUMAN)  http://eur-human.uoc.gr/about/

EUR-HUMAN aimed to rapidly enhance Primary Health Care capacity across Europe to address refugee and migrant health needs and safeguard them from risks including minimising cross-border care risks. An evidence-based, validated approach was utilised, well-tailored to their needs and matched to available services.

Project 3: The European Competence Network on Mastocytosis (ECNM) http://ecnm.net/homepage/index.php

The ECNM is a multi-center network and high-level initiative of EU experts working in the field of mastocytosis. The general aim of the ECNM is to improve recognition, diagnosis, and therapy in patients with mastocytosis in Europe and other countries. The ECNM has succeeded in developing widely accepted guidelines for the diagnosis and management of patients with mastocytosis.

Project 4: Innovative patient centred health care services – advantages of establishing a close CE network in coeliac disease patient health care (Focus IN CD) http://www.interreg-central.eu/Content.Node/Focus-IN-CD.html

Focus IN CD project will demonstrate the development of an innovative health service model and will gain data to develop e-learning tools for health care professionals (HCPs) and patients, to close existing knowledge gaps and to improve patient support.

Project 5: The Gen-Equip Project: Equipping European Primary Care Health Professionals to Deal with Genetics www.primarycaregenetics.org

The Gen-Equip project is a European initiative to provide free, online education in genetics to health professionals, particularly general practitioners, nurses, and midwives providing primary care.  The main aim is to improve healthcare of patients who have or are at risk of a condition with an underlying genetic cause.

Project 6: The impact on maritime transport of health threats due to biological, chemical, and radiological agents including communicable diseases (EU SHIPSAN ACT) http://www.shipsan.eu/

EU SHIPSAN ACT focused on the impact of maritime transport on health threats due to biological, chemical and radiological agents including communicable diseases. The project aimed to strengthen an integrated strategy and sustainable mechanisms at the EU level for safeguarding the health of travelers and crew of passenger and cargo ships, and preventing the cross-border spread of diseases to improve citizens' health security.