Santé publique France invites all professionals, decision-makers, and members of civil society involved in the health, prevention, social services, and education sectors—including public health professionals, institutional representatives, the scientific community, associations, students, and journalists—to two days of conferences and discussions.

Two plenary sessions grounded in current events

For this edition, each day will open with a plenary session addressing a current topic: the challenges and opportunities presented by “integrated” surveillance in managing a future pandemic, and the role of public health agencies in responding to massive population movements and the reception of refugees amid the war in Ukraine.

The COVID-19 pandemic has revolutionized epidemiological surveillance worldwide, and unprecedented efforts have been made to ensure responsive surveillance on a very large scale.
It has also led to the emergence of the concept of “integrated surveillance,” which extends to the monitoring of acute respiratory infections. Bringing together the World Health Organization (WHO), the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC), and ANSES, the plenary session aims to explore the various concepts defining integrated surveillance and to share ongoing discussions regarding its national and international structuring.

One month after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the UN Migration Agency estimated that more than 4 million people had fled their war-torn country, marking the largest population displacement observed in Europe since World War II. This emergency situation also highlights the existing challenges related to the reception of migrants and refugees on our territory. The plenary session “Exile and Precarity: Public Health Challenges” brings together researchers, field practitioners, and public health officials to discuss ways to improve the health of populations in exile.

Thematic and practical sessions featuring international and national experts

Over the course of these two days, sessions will be organized on various themes. French and international speakers, along with representatives from Santé publique France, will explore current topics and share their experiences and expertise in public health policy, two years after the onset of the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic.

Among the issues addressed during these sessions:

• How can we better address the fundamental needs of young children during the first 1,000 days to promote public health action?

• Can health serve as a lever for public policies aimed at mitigating and adapting to climate change?

• COVID-19: What has life been like for people in regions affected by intense waves of the pandemic?

• How to promote smoking cessation among vulnerable populations: challenges and best practices in Europe to reduce health inequalities

• COVID-19: A Revealer, or Even an Amplifier, of Social Health Inequalities in France?

• Interconnected issues between the COVID-19 pandemic, the environment, and health: toward a systematic implementation of the “One Health” approach in public policy

Topics related to the COVID-19 pandemic will feature prominently in discussions and debates, particularly regarding surveillance systems, data processing and open data issues, vaccine logistics, and the impact of the health crisis on health inequalities.