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The WHO European Region faces new challenges in public health including epidemiological and demographic changes, an increase in lifestyle-related chronic diseases and the application of new technologies that push the boundaries of what can be achieved through health interventions. The Region’s countries are also burdened with disparities in the health threats they face and in their capacities to overcome them.

The aim of public health professionals, organizations and services is to protect health, prevent disease and promote the health and well-being of the whole community. This begins with an effort to understand why some communities are healthier than others, or why some communities have a greater prevalence of some diseases. Some public health problems are relatively new, such as widespread obesity and diabetes, and they interplay with the dynamic factors affecting public health, including health inequalities, lifestyle risk factors, demographic change, globalization and technological advances.

WHO/Europe supports Member States in evaluating the effectiveness and performance of their public health services and in devising strategies for reform. It also gives support and guidance for the development of public health laws, conducts stakeholder dialogues about public health, and works with relevant networks to support public health activities.

One such network is the South-eastern Europe Health Network (SEEHN). This was founded in April 2001 and today comprises representatives from the ministries of health of its ten member countries and five partner western European countries as well as five intergovernmental organizations. For the past nine years, SEEHN has been instrumental in promoting development in south-eastern Europe in the areas of mental health, communicable diseases, food safety and nutrition, blood safety, tobacco control, information systems, maternal and neonatal health, public health services and health systems.