A special issue of the Scandinavian Journal of Public Health presents the scientific and strategic foundations of the Joint Action on Cancer and other NCDs prevention – Action on Health Determinants (JA PreventNCD), as the project reaches its halfway point.
Noncommunicable diseases such as cancer, cardiovascular diseases and diabetes are the leading cause of death and disability in the WHO European Region. They account for more than two thirds of the burden of disease in Europe, with a large share of this burden considered preventable.
About JA PreventNCD
JA PreventNCD was launched to help European countries work together to reduce this burden. Running from 2024 to 2027, the Joint Action supports strategies and policies that address common risk factors at both personal and societal levels, strengthens monitoring systems for NCDs and their determinants, and aims to reduce inequalities by engaging decision makers, professionals, civil society and communities. With 25 participating countries and more than 100 partner institutions, JA PreventNCD is one of the most ambitious collaborative efforts on NCD prevention and health promotion in Europe. It is funded through the EU4Health programme and contributes to the EU “Healthier Together” NCD initiative.
What the special issue covers
As the Joint Action reaches its halfway point, this special issue brings together papers that describe the scientific and strategic foundations of JA PreventNCD and its approach to scaling up NCD prevention and health promotion across Europe. The issue highlights how the Joint Action is organised, how work is planned across countries and work streams, and how cross-sectoral collaboration, equity, youth engagement and commercial determinants of health are integrated into the overall design.
Perspectives from key partners
The collection includes contributions from all technical areas of the Joint Action and is accompanied by invited commentaries from key partners. The World Health Organization Regional Office for Europe underlines the urgency of accelerating population-level prevention, strengthening surveillance and protecting public health policies from commercial influence. The European Commission’s Directorate-General for Health and Food Safety (DG SANTE) situates JA PreventNCD within the wider EU agenda on NCDs and cardiovascular health. Professor Harry Rutter, Chair of the External Expert Advisory Board for JA PreventNCD, reflects on the potential of the Joint Action to support more structural and equitable approaches to prevention across Europe.
Taken together, the papers and commentaries provide an important reference point for understanding how JA PreventNCD is set up to support countries in the coming years. They make the underlying frameworks and structures of the Joint Action more visible and show how the project connects to broader European and global efforts on NCD prevention.
“This special issue is an opportunity to open up the scientific and strategic thinking behind JA PreventNCD, it helps explain how the Joint Action is organised and why this matters for countries that want to strengthen prevention and reduce inequalities.” says Knut-Inge Klepp, Scientific Coordinator, JA PreventNCD.
Where to find the articles
You can access the Scandinavian Journal of Public Health special issue here.
You can also find links to all articles included in the special issue in our Resources section under ‘SJPH Special Issue’
What’s next
As a follow-up, we will soon publish an in-depth interview with Scientific Coordinator Knut-Inge Klepp about the special issue and what it means for JA PreventNCD.
