# European Public Health Alliance

The European Public Health Alliance (EPHA) is a European non-profit association registered and headquartered in Brussels, Belgium. Its membership consists of 42 non-profit organisations active in public health in 13 European countries including 10 EU Member States. EPHA has members in Estonia, Bulgaria, Hungary, Slovakia, Poland, Romania, Slovenia, Malta, Sweden, Denmark, UK, Switzerland, and Serbia. Sixty percent of EPHA Members are European federations and as such EPHA represents organisations across the EU and in every Member State.
EPHA's mission is to bring together the public health community, to provide thought leadership and facilitate change, to build public health capacity to deliver equitable solutions to European public health challenges, to improve health and reduce health inequalities. EPHA’s aim is to collate the perspectives from the many sectors its members represent and contribute them to European policy dialogues.

## Structure

EPHA is an international non-profit organisation (NL: IVZW, FR: AISBL) under Belgian law. Its statutes are approved by its General Assembly, composed of representatives of its members.
EPHA is composed of two governing bodies, the General Assembly and the Management Board. Both are chaired by the President of EPHA. The General Assembly is the governing body through which members discuss and decide on the strategy of EPHA on the basis of proposals from the Management Board.
The General Assembly consists of all members, each entitled to a vote at the General Assembly. Only members who have duly paid their membership fees can exercise their right to vote.
As of June 2024, Paolo Lauriola is the President of the board.

## History

The European Public Health Alliance (EPHA) organisation was established on 12 September 1993 when the Maastricht Treaty of 1992 was close to final ratification which for the first time gave the European Community responsibilities in health protection. The European Community Amsterdam Treaty Article 152 extended EU competence to promoting health of European citizens, in addition to protecting it as in Article 129 of the Maastricht Treaty.

### Controversy

In February 2024 complaints of nepotism, toxic work culture and organisational mismanagement were made public. A subsequent investigation was launched through an external legal firm. Among other issues, the investigation focused on the decision of Director General Milka Sokolović to hire her husband, Aleksandar Sokolović, as a director within the organisation.
At the end of March 2024, when the investigation was due to conclude, it was announced that the President, Vice-President, Treasurer and an additional Board Member would resign from their positions. This left just two board members still in office. Additionally, one of the organisation's Directors announced their resignation due to the controversy and a “lack of confidence” in the external investigation and all but one of the organisation's expert advisors also stepped down.
The organisation was described by Politico as "the most chaotic NGO in town".

## Partnerships and Institutional agreements

EPHA has partnerships with a number of international institutions and has signed memorandum of understanding to formalise such partnerships with:
* World Health Organisation - Regional office for Europe (WHO- Europe)
* South-East Europe Health Network (SEEHN)
* Colegio Medico de Chile (Chilean Physicians' association)
EPHA's Director General Dr Milka Sokolović also serves on:
* the Steering committee of the World Health Organization's Civil Society Commission
* The European Board of Agriculture and Food
* ECAC5 - the Communication and Health Literacy Working Group of the International Agency for Research on Cancer/World Health Organisation