Division 2.3 Health Determinants

The aim of projects and actions in this field is to support and underpin EU policies and activities on health determinants, to support the development of actions for providing and exchanging good practice, to promote cross-cutting and integrated approaches across several health determinants and to promote and stimulate countries' efforts.

In 2006, the projects to be prioritised will be those which:

• link actions to policy priorities: Project proposals should be linked to and show awareness of EU public health policies and strategies, for example on alcohol, and nutrition and physical activity. A specific focus will be directed at projects addressing health inequalities and wider socio-economic determinants;

• address children and young people as a specific target group for public health interventions, across a range of health determinants. This would focus on the years when people are ‘forming’ their lifestyles and would address both risk factors and periods of risk, and protective factors with an impact on lifestyles and behaviours.

The priorities identified for 2006 are the following: