Policy-oriented research for public health has been mainstreamed under the Seventh Framework Programme (FP7) for Research 2007-2013 (1). This research is carried out under the umbrella of the Health Theme that is part of the specific programme ‘Cooperation’ (2) under the third Activity entitled ‘Optimising the delivery of health care to European citizens’.
This Activity aims at developing new research methods and generating the necessary scientific basis to underpin informed policy decisions on health systems, and more effective and efficient evidence-based strategies of health promotion, disease prevention, diagnosis and therapy.
The strategy of this part of the Health Theme is to put the citizen first where research on healthcare is concerned, aiming at bringing the results of health research to the benefit of European citizens in particular through benchmarking, comparisons and analysis of models, systems and data. Moreover, this Activity is compatible with the EU Health Strategy ‘Together for Health: A Strategic Approach for the EU 2008-2013’ (3) and will contribute towards strengthening health policy-relevant research at the EU level.
‘Optimising the delivery of health care to European citizens’ has three sub-areas: 1) clinical research into practice, 2) health systems research and 3) health promotion and disease prevention.
International public health and health systems research is incorporated as a fourth area and addresses: health policy research, health systems and health service research, maternal and child health, reproductive health in the context of the Millennium Development Goals.
Furthermore, research projects serving particular EU policy goals identified by European Commission services, such as the Directorate-General for Employ- ment, Social Affairs and Equal Opportunities, EUROSTAT or the Directorate- General for Health and Consumers, are also included in this booklet.