The Steering Group on Health Promotion, Disease Prevention and Management of Non-Communicable Diseases (SGPP)

The Group uses a three-step approach: i) ask EU Member States about their priorities for reducing these diseases; ii) collect validated best practices in those areas, and iii) make support available for countries to (adapt and) roll out those practices. Importantly, the process focuses on tried and tested best-in-class approaches (and not on the minimum common denominator) and support for implementing these practices is identified across EU financial envelopes. This is an important step towards working without silos and reinforcing the call for true collaborations across programs. Peer support also plays a big role, with countries helping each other to adapt and expand their experiences (as does stakeholder involvement, since practices can also be suggested for evaluation via a dedicated portal). The financing comes from the EU Health Programmes, the Structural Reform Support Programme and other sources in the EU Budget. The Steering Group has focused on cancer (a joint project between Italy, Romania and Slovakia on colorectal cancer screening funded under the Structural Reform Support Programme), cardiovascular diseases and rare diseases. In 2018, the areas were nutrition and physical activity, and, in 2019, the focus was on mental health. In 2020, the SGPP prioritised prevention of non-communicable diseases. In 2021-2022, a dedicated best practice call is planned to collect and transfer best practices in the area of Mental Health (related to Covid-19). The best practice implementation is monitored by OECD.