EuSANH

The Health Council is an active member of the European Science Advisory Network for Health (EuSANH).

EuSANH, which was started in 2006 and officially founded in 2011, is a European network of scientific advisory bodies in the field of public health. 

Mission and working procedure

The mission of EuSANH is to promote independent scientific advice to national and European authorities in the field of health, aimed at supporting an evidence-based public health policy. The advisory opinions can also be of importance to professional groups and the general population. To achieve this goal, EuSANH focuses on an international exchange of knowledge (national reports), mutual consultation of national experts, coordination of work programmes and joint efforts in preparing the advisory reports.

Members

Currently nineteen scientific advisory bodies from fourteen different countries are represented and more countries are expected to follow soon. An actual survey of members can be found on the website of EuSANH.

Advisors

Various European organisations fulfil an advisory role in the network: the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC), the Health Evidence Network of WHO Europe, the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA), the Federation of European Academies of Medicine (FEAM) and the European Academies’ Science Advisory Council (EASAC).

EuSANH-ISA

 At the beginning of 2009, EuSANH was awarded a European subsidy for the project entitled ‘Improving Science Advice for Health in Europe, EuSANH’ (abbreviated to EuSANH-ISA). This project was a three-year collaboration between EuSANH member countries to improve the quality, effectiveness and efficiency of scientific advice aimed at promoting public health. Their remit was to chart the structure, function and working methods of the various EuSANH member countries and analyse representative reports as a basis for the development of a joint methodological framework of scientific advice which is published in the form of a handbook.

They also developed a future communication and cooperation structure for EuSANH, including expansion to other countries. And finally, an initial Europe-wide advisory project has been conducted on the basis of the common methodological framework for advice and the cooperative structure. The Health Council was responsible for coordinating this project (2009-2012).

EuSANH publications

• A Framework for Science Advice on Health: Principles and Guidelines (pdf)
• Improving Science Advice on Health Issues (pdf)
• EuSANH-advice Determinants for a successful implementation of population-based cancer screening programmes (pdf)

More information

An extensive overview of activities, publications and reports of all meetings can be found on the website of EuSANH.
The establishment of EuSANH was financially supported by the Dutch Ministry of Health, Welfare and Sport. EuSANH’s secretariat receives support from the Health Council of the Netherlands. The contact person is Dorine Coenen, tel. +31(0)70-3407473, eusanh@eusanh.eu.