O.2. Skills building seminar: Strengthening public health institutions: a European challenge
Abstract
The rise of radical right governments around the world has exposed weaknesses and vulnerabilities in public health, statistical, and science agencies. Governments from Warsaw to Washington have shown the dangers of relying on norms, as against harder tools like legislation, to protect the autonomy, scientific credibility, and nonpartisan qualities of key agencies and their tasks.This proposed skills-building session would equip attendees to analyze institutional vulnerabilities in their own public health systems and identify policy and legislative actions that could remedy them. It will start with a methodological presentation by M. McKee and Christina Pagel, drawing on their report on the weaknesses of the UK, outlining the methods that they used to identify weaknesses and possible remedies that a government could adopt before public health comes under threat. Speakers would then briefly elaborate on ways to apply the method in different European contexts, taking into account different legal and political traditions, patterns of party government, and constitutional law. Attendees would be invited to analyze the vulnerabilities of one or more public health agencies in their countries and discuss with speakers during a breakout session facilitated by Scott Greer and Josep Figueras. Richard Horton of the Lancet will close the session with his reflections. Chairs Greer and Figueras are both experienced moderators who will keep the event on schedule. Participants will learn (1) to identify common weaknesses in the institutional safeguards for public health and scientific institutions (2) analyze those weaknesses in their particular country and institutional contexts (3) develop recommendations for policy or legal changes that could eliminate weaknesses and strengthen safeguards. This proposed skills-building session would equip attendees to analyze institutional vulnerabilities in their own public health systems and identify policy and legislative actions that could remedy them. It will start with a methodological presentation by XX drawing on their report on the weaknesses of the UK, outlining the methods that they used to identify weaknesses and possible remedies that a government could adopt before public health comes under threat. Speakers from XX would then briefly elaborate on ways to apply the method in different European contexts, taking into account different legal and political traditions, patterns of party government, and constitutional law. Attendees would be invited to analyze the vulnerabilities of one or more public health agencies in their countries and discuss with speakers during a breakout session.
Key messages: • Public health institutions across Europe are vulnerable to political interference. Norms alone cannot protect their independence - safeguards are urgently needed.
• Protecting public health institutions requires proactive reform. Participants will leave with tools to diagnose weaknesses and advocate for safeguards.
Speakers/Panellists: Martin McKee
London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, London, UK
João Paulo Magalhães
University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, UK
Christina Pagel
University College London, London, UK
Melanie Kuhrn
GÖG, Vienna, Austria
Richard Horton
The Lancet, London, UK
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BibTeX
@article{euphapublichealthpolicyandpoliticssection2026skills,
title = {{O.2. Skills building seminar: Strengthening public health institutions: a European challenge}},
author = {EUPHA Public Health Policy and Politics section, European Observatory on Health Systems and Policies, University of Michigan (USA) and Josep Figueras and Scott Greer},
journal = {The European Journal of Public Health},
year = {2026},
month = oct,
doi = {10.1093/eurpub/ckag169.110},
url = {https://doi.org/10.1093/eurpub/ckag169.110},
note = {CC BY-NC 4.0},
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
TI - O.2. Skills building seminar: Strengthening public health institutions: a European challenge
AU - EUPHA Public Health Policy and Politics section, European Observatory on Health Systems and Policies, University of Michigan (USA)
AU - Josep Figueras
AU - Scott Greer
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/10/01
JO - The European Journal of Public Health
DO - 10.1093/eurpub/ckag169.110
UR - https://doi.org/10.1093/eurpub/ckag169.110
AB - The rise of radical right governments around the world has exposed weaknesses and vulnerabilities in public health, statistical, and science agencies. Governments from Warsaw to Washington have shown the dangers of relying on norms, as against harder tools like legislation, to protect the autonomy, scientific credibility, and nonpartisan qualities of key agencies and their tasks.This proposed skills-building session would equip attendees to analyze institutional vulnerabilities in their own public health systems and identify policy and legislative actions that could remedy them. It will start with a methodological presentation by M. McKee and Christina Pagel, drawing on their report on the weaknesses of the UK, outlining the methods that they used to identify weaknesses and possible remedies that a government could adopt before public health comes under threat. Speakers would then briefly elaborate on ways to apply the method in different European contexts, taking into account different legal and political traditions, patterns of party government, and constitutional law. Attendees would be invited to analyze the vulnerabilities of one or more public health agencies in their countries and discuss with speakers during a breakout session facilitated by Scott Greer and Josep Figueras. Richard Horton of the Lancet will close the session with his reflections. Chairs Greer and Figueras are both experienced moderators who will keep the event on schedule. Participants will learn (1) to identify common weaknesses in the institutional safeguards for public health and scientific institutions (2) analyze those weaknesses in their particular country and institutional contexts (3) develop recommendations for policy or legal changes that could eliminate weaknesses and strengthen safeguards. This proposed skills-building session would equip attendees to analyze institutional vulnerabilities in their own public health systems and identify policy and legislative actions that could remedy them. It will start with a methodological presentation by XX drawing on their report on the weaknesses of the UK, outlining the methods that they used to identify weaknesses and possible remedies that a government could adopt before public health comes under threat. Speakers from XX would then briefly elaborate on ways to apply the method in different European contexts, taking into account different legal and political traditions, patterns of party government, and constitutional law. Attendees would be invited to analyze the vulnerabilities of one or more public health agencies in their countries and discuss with speakers during a breakout session. Key messages: • Public health institutions across Europe are vulnerable to political interference. Norms alone cannot protect their independence - safeguards are urgently needed. • Protecting public health institutions requires proactive reform. Participants will leave with tools to diagnose weaknesses and advocate for safeguards. Speakers/Panellists: Martin McKee London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, London, UK João Paulo Magalhães University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, UK Christina Pagel University College London, London, UK Melanie Kuhrn GÖG, Vienna, Austria Richard Horton The Lancet, London, UK
SN - 1101-1262
SN - 1464-360X
ER -