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On the occasion of the first Healthcare Forum, which took place in Wąsowo, Poland last week, Euractiv spoke with the Regional Director of WHO/Europe, Dr Hans Kluge. 

In this interview, Dr. Kluge looked back on his meeting with the Polish and Ukrainian Ministers of Health about the Healthy Reconstruction of Ukraine. He dug into the physical and mental health needs of the refugees, but also into the limited access to sexual and reproductive rights for Ukrainian women in Poland, as some of them could not have an abortion due to the Polish law.

This week EURACTIV'S health team explores why fertility is decreasing across the globe, what challenges people face when they want children and the situation of fertility treatments in Europe. For that, Health Reporter Marta Iraola talks with Dr Carlos Calhaz-Jorge, a specialist in obstetrics and gynaecology and chair of the European Society for Human Reproduction and Embryology (ESHRE). 

This week, EURACTIV’s health team dives into how endocrine-disrupting chemicals (EDC) can affect children, especially in their most important developmental years. They talk with Doctor Anders Juul, a paediatric endocrinologist at Rigshospitalet in Copenhagen. He explains how children are exposed to these chemicals and the health issues this can cause them, both as kids and as adults. 

Psilocybin, MDMA or LSD might associate with party drugs but their therapeutic value is being discovered worldwide. Ian Roullier took part in two clinical trials that looked at the effects of psilocybin on depression. Through his personal experience, Roullier shares his insights on psychedelic-assisted therapy, its potential value to patients and what is needed to boost research in this field. 

Tobacco is responsible for 8 million deaths a year but despite that governments across the world spend millions supporting tobacco farms, according to WHO Director-General  Tedros Ghebreyesus.  As 31 May marks World No Tobacco Day, EURACTIV’s health team talks with Rudiger Krech, WHO Director of the Health Promotion Department, on the impact of toxic chemicals used in tobacco farms on farmers’ health and why it is important to move towards growing sustainable food crops instead of tobacco.

From psychedelics and mental health literature to having pets in EU institutions - EURACTIV’s health reporter Giedrė Peseckytė is talking with three MEPs - Maria Walsh from Christian Democrats, Mikuláš Peksa from the Greens and Karen Melchior from Renew -  about mental health. 

As this week is European Testing Week, a European campaign that aims to increase testing efforts and promote awareness of the benefits of earlier hepatitis and HIV testing, EURACTIV's health team is talking with Jens Lundgren, Professor of infectious diseases at the University of Copenhagen in Denmark.  He has been involved with clinical HIV research for the last 30 years and in this interview he talks about the importance of early diagnosis for HIV patients. 

This week, EURACTIV’s health team talks with Chantal Friebertshäuser, Senior Vice President at Moderna for Europe, the Middle East and Canada. They discuss the end of COVID and the new vaccine they are developing against cancer. 

They also talk about the new facility the biotechnology company recently opened in Madrid, Spain. This new laboratory, equipped with the latest technology, is the biggest end-to-end production hub for Moderna outside the United States. 

This week, EURACTIV’s health team dives into the proposal for a new pharmaceutical legislation and the complicated way ahead. For that, they talk with stakeholders working on health policy at the EU level about their priorities and main concerns. 

This week, EURACTIV’s health team dives into endocrine disruptors and the effect these chemicals can have on our hormonal system. They talk with Doctor Angel Nadal, professor of physiology at the University Miguel Hernandez in Spain, about the current framework and what else can be done at the EU level.  

This week, EURACTIV’s journalist Marta Iraola talks about the movie ‘The Whale’  with Jacqueline Bowman-Busato, head of policy at the European Association for the Study of Obesity. They focus on the controversies about its portrayal of obesity and the reception among the patient community. 

This week, EURACTIV’s journalist Giedrė Peseckytė is talking with a Polish pro-abortion activist Justyna Wydrzynska who got sentenced in mid-March to eight months of community service for sharing abortion pills with another woman back in 2020. *The interview was conducted on 23 March. 

Marking world Tuberculosis day (24 March) we are talking with two Ukrainians about how Ukrainians are fighting not only Russia's invasion but also one of the highest incidences of TB cases in the European region. 

This week, EURACTIV’s health team explores the outstanding revision of the EU framework on substances of human origins (SoHo) together with Annemette Arndal-Lauritzen, CEO of the European Sperm Bank, with a focus on the revision of the EU rules for sperm donation.

This week, EURACTIV's health journalists Marta Iraola and Gerardo Fortuna dig into the troubled implementation of the new framework for medical devices in Europe which entered into force in 2021. When developers of medical devices started experiencing problems in meeting the deadlines for implementing the key rules of the new regulation, the EU lawmakers decided to postpone the application of certain provisions of these new rules. To get a better grasp of what happened, we spoke to the European Commission spokesperson in charge of health Stefan de Keersmaecker, the policy officer at the European Patients’ Forum (EPF) Julie Spony, and the CEO of MedTech Europe Oliver Bisazza. 

This week, EURACTIV’s journalists Clara Bauer and Gerardo Fortuna sat with the EU’s health Commissioner Stella Kyriakides to talk about women’s health on the occasion of International Women’s Day. The EU health chief also gave some anticipations on what is coming up next in the EU’s health policy agenda.

This week, EURACTIV’s health team brings you the nitty-gritty of the European Health Data Space together with one of the European Parliament's rapporteur on the file, the centre-right Croatian MEP Tomislav Sokol

This week, EURACTIV's health team dig into the European Parliament’s role in the ongoing saga on the transparency of the COVID-19 vaccine contracts between the European Commission and the pharmaceutical company Pfizer with MEP Tilly Metz.

Autumn has arrived on the shores of the UK - a slight freshness to the mornings and a waning of the light signal that subtle change to the season. In the garden the peak colour and growth is starting to give way to the texture and autumnal colours that signal the slow, but beautiful descent, into a period of more dormant reflection. Autumn can be one of the most beautiful times of year and also a celebration of what has gone before, the present harvest of abundance but also the future excitement of gardening plans and work.

On 5th December each year we celebrate World Soil Day, where the importance of this unassuming brown mass is 'unearthed'. Saul and Lucy are both strong believers that a healthy soil is crucial for the consequent vitality of our plants - without soil, we simply wouldn't exist! So, the pair expand our knowledge of what exactly soil is, the role of soil pH, how macro- and microorganisms are fundamental for cycling plant nutrients - and so much more. Hopefully, by the end of this detailed episode, your appreciation of soil will be reinforced.

Twitter links:
Saul @GardeningSaul
Lucy @HeadGardenerLC

Intro and Outro music from https://filmmusic.io
"Fireflies and Stardust" by Kevin MacLeod (https://incompetech.com)
License: CC BY (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/)