How much progress has Europe made on health? Many challenges lie ahead, a new report from WHO Europe says.
Europe’s progress on health is “stagnating” and in certain areas, even backsliding, according to an overarching new report that covers everything from infections and chronic disease to life expectancy across the continent and parts of Central Asia.
The new 2024 European Health Report found, for instance, that gaps in vaccination coverage have worsened in some countries in the region, leading to a resurgence in diseases such as measles and pertussis (whooping cough).
There were more than 58,000 measles cases in 2023 across 41 countries, according to the new report as well as 87,000 pertussis cases – the highest number in the last decade.
Just seven countries in the region – Hungary, Kazakhstan, Malta, Portugal, Slovakia, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan – have greater than 95 per cent coverage of three key vaccines for diphtheria, tetanus, and pertussis; measles; and pneumococcal infections.
The newly published report is released every three years by the World Health Organization (WHO)’s European regional office and comes as countries face several challenges, such as ageing populations and climate change.
“Whilst progress was happening, it has stagnated, and of course, we know that the COVID pandemic has had an impact, but we can’t just sit back and be complacent,” Dr Natasha Azzopardi-Muscat, WHO Europe’s Director of Country Health Policies and Systems, told Euronews Health at a press conference.
She added that “progress cannot be taken for granted”.
Region must ‘confront root causes of chronic diseases’
There were also signs of improvement in the region. The new report found that diseases such as cardiovascular diseases, cancer, diabetes, and chronic respiratory illnesses are declining.
Ten countries – Belgium, Denmark, Estonia, Israel, Kazakhstan, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Norway, Sweden, and Switzerland – have reached the target of reducing premature mortality from the main chronic illnesses by 25 per cent.
Yet these diseases are still linked to the deaths of one in six people under the age of 70 in the region.
The leading cause of premature death is cardiovascular disease, which is especially the case in Eastern European countries and Central Asia.
While northern and western European countries have higher numbers of new cancer cases, mortality is decreasing. Eastern European countries, meanwhile, have lower numbers of cancer but higher mortality.
“The entire region must confront the root causes of chronic disease; from tobacco and alcohol use to poor access to healthy and nutritious food, to air pollution, to a lack of physical activity,” Dr Hans Kluge, WHO’s regional director for Europe, said in a statement.
Europeans consume the most alcohol globally with an average of 8.8 litres per adult per year – roughly 733 to 880 standard drinks in a year. Alcohol consumption is highest in EU countries and lowest in Central Asia.
It is responsible for one in every 11 deaths in the region, the report said.
Dr Gauden Galea, a strategic adviser to WHO Europe’s regional director, explained that many European countries “are producing a very large amount of the world’s alcohol” and that there is low awareness of the “strong link” between alcohol and cancer among the population.
There is also a high level of tobacco smoking at around 25 per cent, with the region not on track to meet the goal of reducing that by 30 per cent this year, WHO said.
Meanwhile, obesity, which can lead to an increased risk of diabetes and heart disease, is rising in the region with nearly a quarter of adults living with it.
Young people ‘lonelier’ than before
One in five adolescents in the region are struggling with mental health with suicide a leading cause of death among 15 to 29-year-olds, according to the report.
“In our online and interconnected world, our young people are ironically feeling lonelier than ever before, with many struggling with their weight and self-confidence, setting them up for poor health as adults,” Kluge said in a statement.
He added that protecting children’s health can help them to grow into healthier adolescents and in turn, healthier adults.
The report addressed a host of other health issues in Europe, noting that while the region has relatively low maternal mortality rates, they have also stagnated since 2015.
It called for closing a wide gap between countries on preventable child deaths and noted that Europe is the fastest-warming region globally, with an estimated 175,000 heat-related deaths per year.
Kluge added at a press conference that while people are living longer lives, they are not necessarily healthier and warned that Europe’s health systems “are no better prepared for emergencies today than they were before the COVID-19 pandemic”.
He said that viruses such as avian influenza, mpox, and Marburg do not have borders and that “keeping health high on the agenda means working together to build a safer and more resilient world”.