The European Commission and UNICEF announce a new partnership to improve health outcomes for children

GENEVA, 8 January 2025 – The European Commission and UNICEF today announced a new partnership to improve mental and physical health outcomes among children in EU Member States, Iceland and Norway.

The three-year partnership – Promoting a comprehensive, prevention-oriented approach to children’s health – will help address gaps in service delivery for the most vulnerable groups and support the countries’ efforts in tackling stagnating vaccination rates, an increasing number of mental health conditions, growing obesity and increasing rates of vaping and alcohol consumption among children in 29 countries across Europe.

The collaboration will support strengthening health policies for children and adolescents through a Toolkit for Child and Adolescent Health and Mental Wellbeing Promotion that will serve as a comprehensive resource for policymakers. The partnership will focus on five aspects of children’s health: the promotion of healthy lifestyles, early childhood development and intervention, immunisation, the protection of children from aggressive promotion of harmful products including tobacco, nicotine, alcohol and unhealthy food, and the promotion of good mental health.

“One of the greatest challenges facing Europe in the area of health in this decade is protecting the mental and physical health and wellbeing of our children and young people. Through our EUR 2 million partnership with UNICEF, we will help those entrusted with this key task to strengthen health programmes and provide essential support to young Europeans. In a strong European Health Union, investments in the health and well-being of children and adolescents - our future - must be at the centre,” said Sandra Gallina, Director-General, Health and Food Safety at the European Commission.

“This partnership with the European Commission is a vital step towards addressing some of the most pressing health challenges children face today, from mental health issues to preventable illnesses and harmful lifestyle behaviours. Together, we aim to ensure that every child has the chance to grow up healthy and realise their full potential,” said Regina De Dominicis, UNICEF Regional Director for Europe and Central Asia.

Throughout the collaboration, the European Commission and UNICEF will identify existing barriers to achieving positive health outcomes among children, map gaps in policies, interventions and programmes, and identify best practices implemented in countries.

The collaboration will support the objectives of EU health policies, such as the ‘Healthier together’ non-communicable diseases initiative, Europe’s Beating Cancer Plan and the Communication on a comprehensive approach to mental health. It will also support the Council Recommendation on vaccine-preventable cancers, as well as the Council Recommendation on Smoke- and Aerosol-Free Environments.

Background

The project is part of a flagship initiative (‘Children Health 360’) of the Communication on a comprehensive approach to mental health, which includes the development of a prevention toolkit focusing on prevention, early intervention of children at risk and addressing the interlinks between mental and physical health, and key health determinants.

The project is funded with €2 million under the EU4Health programme in alignment with its objective to improve and foster health to reduce the burden of non-communicable diseases.