European Public Health Alliance

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European Public Health Alliance

Abbreviation| EPHA
Formation| 1993
Headquarters| Rue de Trèves 49-51, 10, 1040 Brussels, Belgium

Official language

| English

Secretary General

| Dr. Milka Sokolovic[1]

President

| Paolo Lauriola
Website| https://epha.org

The European Public Health Alliance (EPHA) is a European non-profit association registered and headquartered in Brussels, Belgium. Its membership consists of 42 non-profit organisations active in public health in 13 European countries including 10 EU Member States. EPHA has members in Estonia, Bulgaria, Hungary, Slovakia, Poland, Romania, Slovenia, Malta, Sweden, Denmark, UK, Switzerland, and Serbia. Sixty percent of EPHA Members are European federations and as such EPHA represents organisations across the EU and in every Member State.

EPHA's mission is to bring together the public health community, to provide thought leadership and facilitate change, to build public health capacity to deliver equitable solutions to European public health challenges, to improve health and reduce health inequalities. EPHA’s aim is to collate the perspectives from the many sectors its members represent and contribute them to European policy dialogues.

## Structure

[edit]

EPHA is an international non-profit organisation (NL: IVZW, FR: AISBL) under Belgian law. Its statutes are approved by its General Assembly, composed of representatives of its members.

EPHA is composed of two governing bodies, the General Assembly and the Management Board.[2] Both are chaired by the President of EPHA. The General Assembly is the governing body through which members discuss and decide on the strategy of EPHA on the basis of proposals from the Management Board.

The General Assembly consists of all members, each entitled to a vote at the General Assembly. Only members who have duly paid their membership fees can exercise their right to vote.

As of June 2024, Paolo Lauriola is the President of the board. [1][3]

## History

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The European Public Health Alliance (EPHA) organisation was established on 12 September 1993 when the Maastricht Treaty of 1992 was close to final ratification which for the first time gave the European Community responsibilities in health protection. The European Community Amsterdam Treaty Article 152 extended EU competence to promoting health of European citizens, in addition to protecting it as in Article 129 of the Maastricht Treaty.[citation needed]

### Controversy

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In February 2024 complaints of nepotism, toxic work culture and organisational mismanagement were made public. A subsequent investigation was launched through an external legal firm. Among other issues, the investigation focused on the decision of Director General Milka Sokolović to hire her husband, Aleksandar Sokolović, as a director within the organisation.[4]

At the end of March 2024, when the investigation was due to conclude, it was announced that the President, Vice-President, Treasurer and an additional Board Member would resign from their positions. This left just two board members still in office.[5][6] Additionally, one of the organisation's Directors announced their resignation due to the controversy and a “lack of confidence” in the external investigation and all but one of the organisation's expert advisors also stepped down.[5][7]

The organisation was described by Politico as "the most chaotic NGO in town".[7]

## See also

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* Belgium portal

* Health care
* Directorate-General for Health and Consumer Protection

## References

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1. ^ a b "People". European Public Health Alliance. 15 March 2024. Retrieved 4 April 2024.
2. ^ "Statutes" (PDF). European Public Health Alliance. 2023.
3. ^ "About Us". European Public Health Alliance. Retrieved 4 April 2024.
4. ^ Wheaton, Sarah (29 February 2024). "What Uber could teach Amazon's banned lobbyists". Politico. Retrieved 4 April 2024.
5. ^ a b Eccles, Mari (20 May 2024). "Toxic bullying claims blow up Brussels' biggest health NGO". Politico. Retrieved 17 March 2025.
6. ^ Wheaton, Sarah (28 March 2024). "Von der Leyen and the dark horse lobby". Politico. Retrieved 4 April 2024.
7. ^ a b Eccles, Mari (4 April 2024). "The most chaotic NGO in town". Politico. Retrieved 4 April 2024.

## External links

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* Official website

Authority control databases

International|

* VIAF

National|

* United States