In many ways it is a relief to reach the end of this long and difficult year as we turn to the hope of better days to come. However, it has also been an inspiration to the ASPHER Secretariat to see our Members and the Public Health community pull together to combat the COVID-19 Pandemic. We have been privileged to work with all of you during the course of the year and to be able to contribute to the fight to hold on to and improve the health of our communities. 

In addition to informing you of some recent developments, this December newsletter looks back on the accomplishments of so many of you over the course of the year. ASPHER Secretariat must congratulate all of our Members for stepping up and doing the work that needed to be done.

Below we remind you of the series of country reports published during 2020 describing a selection of our Member Schools’ initiatives to combat COVID-19. We know this represents only a fraction of the activities undertaken by our Members, but we will be reporting back to you on ASPHER’s  survey of schools’ COVID-19 activities in early 2021 – in case you haven’t yet responded there is still a last chance for your feedback!

In addition to new publications on Vaccines, Herd Immunity, Lockdown Illnesses and Vitamin D, the newsletter provides you with a recap of the work of the ASPHER COVID-19 Task Force. The Task Force, with the help of a dedicated group of ASPHER Young Professionals, has produced a stunning number of resources and we encourage our Members to make use of them and disseminate them widely. The Young Professionals also led on the ASPHER School Reopening survey - be sure to check back in for the final report in January.

You will also find the final TIPH Europe Campaign Feature from Sofia, Bulgaria. It caps off the series of terrific 2019-2020 TIPH Europe campaigns, which all found innovative ways to persevere under adverse conditions to still remind us that ‘This Is Public Health!’ As announced last month TIPH is ‘going global’ in 2021 and we wish the best of luck to Members who are applying for TIPH Global Grants.

Of course we don’t want you to miss out on other happenings, so be sure to read all the ASPHER Member and Partner news which include appointments, awards, upcoming courses and webinars as well as several interesting opportunities. Please don’t forget to share news items from your programme with Lore at lore.leighton@aspher.org so we can be sure to share them with the ASPHER community!

ASPHER is also continuing to work to support our Members within relevant EU and Brussels-led efforts. From the Association’s endorsement of the Rescue Horizon Campaign to joining the European Health Forum Gastein (EHFG)’s Manifesto for a European Health Union calling on political leaders of Europe to commit to creating a European Health Union (EHU). We welcome this in harmony with Hans Kluge’s A new vision for WHO's European Region: united action for better health to build a pan-European Culture of Health.

Finally, we leave you with a long list highlighting selected Members’ publications to provide you with reading material over the holiday period.

Have a wonderful and safe holiday and we look forward to coming back to you in January refreshed and ready to take on a new year!

Best wishes from the ASPHER Secretariat,
Robert Otok and Lore Leighton

Download the December 2020 Newsletter here!

Please don’t forget to share your news, publications and announcements with lore.leighton@aspher.org to be included in the next regular issue of the Newsletter and on the ASPHER website activity log. We are now publishing more regular monthly newsletter reports which will better ensure timely release of your announcements to the ASPHER Membership! We are planning to set up an editorial group early next year to strategize on future newsletters and other ASPHER communications – if you are interested to join, please let us know. Finally, we always appreciate any comments and/or suggestions for improvements for us to consider for the newsletter.