About: Health Archives

The evidence is clear: to secure a thriving future for people and planet we need to collectively transform our eating patterns towards healthier, more plant-rich diets. The EU’s common agricultural policy (CAP) can facilitate this transition. But several misunderstandings hinder progress.  

The well-being of EU citizens should be made a priority and an intersectoral approach integrating policy areas such as housing, fighting pollution and digital transformation into health can also help bring about new economic models, MEPs and civil society representatives agree.

World champions and Olympic athletes are helping empower school girls through sports to become leaders in their communities, thanks to an EU funded project.

Getting to better know your body, having healthier habits, gaining confidence… sports can be a tool for education for children, but also to enhance gender equality. Through its Erasmus + programme, the EU has been funding initiatives that aim at supporting inclusiveness, and integration in athletics events, including gender equality.

The Commission, Council and Parliament have agreed to facilitate the use of organic fertilisers, for which there has been no regulatory framework so far. Fertilisers will also have to contain less heavy metal in the future.

Unlike the energy sector, agriculture does not benefit from public policies geared towards a low carbon transition, which means farming is still a significant contributor to climate change due to meat over-consumption, a new report published on 16 October revealed.

European agriculture can phase out pesticides, reduce its impacts on climate and biodiversity while ensuring food security for Europeans, French researchers Pierre-Marie Aubert and Xavier Poux  told a conference held in Paris on 13 September.   

Consumer organisation Foodwatch has called on German Minister of Food and Agriculture Julia Klöckner to give up her opposition to a Nutri-Score food labelling scheme, after Belgium announced this week it will introduce such a label, following similar moves from the UK and France.

Eating crickets help support the growth of beneficial gut bacteria, is not only safe at high doses but may also reduce inflammation in the body, a new study finds.  For consumers in North America and Europe, crickets and other edible insects are currently getting popular, a trend the EU’s new Novel Food Regulation may significantly strengthen.

French President Emmanuel Macron said Thursday (26 July) he viewed talks between US President Donald Trump and EU Commission chief Jean-Claude Juncker as "useful", but he was "not in favour" of a "vast new trade deal" between the European Union and the United States.

The Court of Justice of the EU (CJEU) ruled on Thursday (21 June) that Germany had breached EU law by allowing an excessive use of manure as a fertiliser, thus violating the limits set out in the EU’s nitrates directive which aims to reduce water pollution caused by nitrates from agricultural sources.

Almost two decades after the NATO bombing of Serbia, local authorities there have launched an investigation to determine whether depleted uranium bombs were used, which could explain in surge in autoimmune diseases. EURACTIV.rs reports.

Chemotherapy may be avoided in about 70% of early-stage breast cancer patients, thus limiting chemotherapy to the 30% who can be predicted it will be beneficial for them, a study released on Sunday (3 June) shows.

EU negotiators hope to wrap up talks on the Energy Efficiency Directive (EED) this week, which will significantly affect the building sector. A new report released on 28 May says buildings have a crucial but often overlooked impact on health and renovation can be beneficial to our quality of life.

MEPs and civil society representatives urged the European Commission on 24 May to act soon on defining a new strategy following the rejection by the European Parliament last autumn of its endocrine disruptor chemicals (EDC) definition.

Measles cases continue to increase in a number of EU/EEA countries according to the most recent measles data collected by the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) through epidemic intelligence and published in the Communicable Diseases Threats Report (CDTR) today (22 May).

Glyphosate, the chemical found in the world’s most widely used weed-killer, can have disruptive effects on sexual development, genes and beneficial gut bacteria at doses considered safe, according to a study presented at the European Parliament on Wednesday (16 May).

The most important achievements in public health occurred during the last century. Together with clean water, sanitation and the use of antibiotics, vaccines are an essential part of these achievements.

Workers from all business segments are and will be affected by climate and environmental changes, with the exception of risks related to noise and artificial radiations, the French Agency for Food, Environmental, Occupational Health and Safety (Anses) said in a study published 19 April.

Carmakers are delaying building more efficient models until 2019 in a bid to maximise profit margins before new EU rules on CO2 emissions kick in, according to a new report.

Instead of pursuing real decarbonisation plans, energy-intensive industry in the EU has managed to turn pollution into profit, Climate Action Network Europe said in a study published 9 April.

Poland has decided to build a wall on its eastern border by 2020 to effectively tackle swine fever. The aim of the wall is to prevent wild boars carrying the disease from entering the territory, a decision that is far from convincing experts.

Brexit poses “serious challenges” to the NHS in the form of longer waiting times, staff shortages and delays in the approval of new medicines, according to a report published on Wednesday (14 March).