European Joint Action «Prevent-NCD»

The European joint action “Prevent-NCD” (prevention of cancer and other non-communicable diseases), focusing on health determinants, started on 1 January 2024 and will last 48 months. It is coordinated by the Norwegian Directorate for Health (HDIR) and brings together 111 partners from 26 countries, including France. This joint action is co-financed by the European Commission’s health program “EU4Health” to the tune of 76 million Euros (80% of the total budget) and 19 million Euros by the partners (20% of the total budget).

Its objectives are to :

improve the planning and implementation of prevention policies and activities at national, regional and local levels;
improve the system for monitoring non-communicable diseases (NCDs) and their common risk factors;
contribute to the reduction of inequalities;
engage with key actors in the field of NCD prevention.

Anses (Food Observatory Unit (UOA) of the Risk Assessment Directorate (DER)) is taking part in the “Regulation and Taxation” Work Package (WP) and is more specifically coordinating a sub-task dedicated to monitoring the nutritional composition of foods with a view to reformulation.

This sub-task aims to improve the nutritional quality of foods by comparing the nutritional values of products across Europe and identifying the margins for reformulation. Thus it is a continuation of the actions carried out as part of the European joint actions JANPA “Joint Action on Nutrition and Physical Activity” (2015-2017, coordinated by France: Anses and the French Ministry of Health) and Best-ReMaP which focused on food and nutrition with a focus on children (2020-2023, with Anses assuming the role of WP leader on food reformulation).

The kick off meeting of the joint action took place in Oslo (Norway) from 13 to 15 February 2024. Information is available on the following page of the Norwegian coordinator’s website : https://www.helsedirektoratet.no/english/japreventncd. A website dedicated to the project will be available shortly.