London, Tuesday 13 November.

A one day conference, organised by the Royal College of Physicians. It aims to bring together representatives of the medical professions from the United Kingdom and from Europe to share the latest evidence and experience and to agree and produce a Conference Charter for a co-ordinated response to reduce the harm caused by alcohol to Europe

On 8 November 2007 the European Commission approved Community co-financing for 63 projects in the field of public health, according to the amended annual work plan for 2007.

Figures for 2005 released by the state statistics agency showed that alcohol has become the leading cause of death among Finnish men aged 15 to 64, ahead of cardiovascular disease, accidents and cancer.

On 12 December the plenary of the European Parliament will vote on the proposal on the common organisation of the market in wine.

Some 240 young teenagers have been hospitalised after drinking themselves into a coma so far this year, according to research coordinated by Twente University.

Brussels, Tuesday, 23 October.

A one-day conference organized by the Cancer Center and Institute of Oncology of Warsaw, Poland. The conference will present the results of a three-year European funded research project. This project focused on identifying the reasons for the health gap between Western and Eastern European Union countries.

Brussels, October 23. The European Commission has adopted a Health Strategy setting out the direction for Community Health action in the years to come. 'Together for Health: A Strategic Approach for the EU 2008-2013'. The Strategy aims to provide an overarching strategic framework spanning core issues in health as well as health in all policies and global health issues. The Strategy aims to set clear objectives to guide future work on health at the European level, and to put in place an implementation mechanism to achieve those objectives, working in partnership with Member States.

The final results of the research project “Closing the Gap”, were presented last 23 October in a conference in Brussels.
The aim of this three-year project funded by the Commission was to improve the understanding of the underlying causes of health differences between EU15 and EU10 countries and to identify and quantify major health determinants responsible for the health gap.

19 October, Lisbon, Portugal. EU leaders on 19 October agreed on a final text of the new EU Treaty at an informal summit in Lisbon. The new Treaty to be formally signed off on 13 December in the Portuguese capital will subsequently be ratified next year, with a view to coming into place by mid-2009, ahead of the next European elections.

17 October, Brussels. The Directorate for Public Health and Consumer Protection of the European Commission (DG SANCO) has held the first plenary meeting of the Alcohol and Health Forum. This multistakholder forum, modelled on the EU Platform for Diet, Physical Activity and Health, brings together actors pledging to take concrete actions to reduce alcohol related harm in Europe, now the heaviest drinking region in the world.