Policy Debate: public health and the Common Agricultural Policy

On June 16th 2011, European Public Health and Agriculture Consortium (EPHAC), with support from HEAL member European Public Health Alliance (EPHA), held a policy debate on the role of public health in the Common Agricultural Policy. The event was held in the European Parliament and hosted by Oana Elena Antonescu MEP, with participation of EU Commissioner for Agriculture Dacian Ciolos, EU Commissioner for Health John Dalli, and WHO Regional Director for Europe Zsuzsanna Jakab.

The debate focused on the the importance of the role of the Common Agriculture Policy (CAP) in tackling chronic diseases and inequalities in health. Given that the main drivers of inequalities in health lie outside the control of traditional health sector, full and meaningful participation from the non-health sectors such as agriculture, environment, employment, and social policy is needed. The debate aimed to raise constructive discussions and ideas for policies and instruments that create synergies between agriculture and public health for cross-sectorally beneficial trade-offs. For more information contact Dorota Sienkiewicz at dorota(at)epha.org or visit www.epha.org/a/4601.

Originally posted on 13 July 2011