The overarching aim of HELPS is to improve the physical health status of residents with mental disorders, mental disability or dependency living in social and healthcare institutions. HELPS will develop and implement a physical health intervention tool to be used in such institutions as a major step towards protecting human rights and the dignity of residents living in social and healthcare institutions.
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The project aims to improve the quality of prevention programmes targeting children and young people living with kinship carers, thus preventing vulnerable children and young people from experiencing harm as a consequence of alcohol or drug use.


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Rare diseases (RD) have been identified as one of the paradigmatic fields in which actions conducted at the European level constitute the adequate response to their specific problems: poor recognition leading to diagnostic delay and inappropriate management including adapted social services, poor health outcomes, social burden, limited knowledge on natural history and pathophysiology leading to an insufficient development of new therapies. The low prevalence and the specificity of RD make that a global, multi-stakeholder approach, intended to gather specific expertise and to build shared strategies is necessary to address these issues.
The general objectives of RD-Action are to:
▪ Support the further development and sustainability of the Orphanet database, the biggest global repository of information on RD
▪ Contribute to solutions to ensure an appropriate codification of RD in health information systems
▪ Continue implementation of the priorities identified in Council Recommendation 2009/C151/02 and the Commission Communication (COM 2008 679) on RD, with a view to ensuring the sustainability of the recommended priority actions and to support the work of the Commission Expert Group on Rare Diseases (CEGRD).
This JA will expand and consolidate the achievements of the former JAs on RD supported by the European Commission: the Orphanet JA and the EUCERD JA. More precisely, this proposal has the ambition to help member states to implement the recommended measures adopted or to be adopted by the CEGRD and to produce the data necessary for countries to do so. Interactions between the production of data at the Orphanet database level and the implementation of policy priorities including codification will be strengthened during this JA.RD-Action large geographical coverage is key to success as it will promote the transfer of European recommendations into national policies and the collection of information and concerns from MS to the CEGRD, thus to the European Commission.

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The International Coordinating Centre (ICC) of the Health Behaviour in School-Aged Children (HBSC) Study is responsible for the management of the HBSC network. HBSC, founded in 1983, is an internationally comparative study on adolescent health, presently conducted in 26/27 European Union (EU) Member States. Its mission is to monitor adolescent health and wellbeing over time; increase knowledge of adolescent health and social determinants in Europe; and disseminate information to key stakeholders. HBSC provides data to inform national/EU policies to improve the health outcomes of more than 200 million children. The study is an exceptional resource for governments and organisations including the European Commission, the WHO, UNICEF, and the OECD.

The ICC’s mission is to enable network cooperation/knowledge sharing, be the public face of the study and a source of intelligence for stakeholders. It supports HBSC member teams in developing and implementing surveys that gather public health statistics about a population group that reflects the most important trends impacting future health of European citizens. It promotes the network’s core principles and values including consultation, democracy, inclusion and transparency. It advocates equity, sustainability and empowerment so that all members can participate fully in the study development. These core values are recorded in the HBSC Terms of Reference, an internal set of rules that the network has agreed and committed to adhere to.

Under ICC’s guidance, HBSC is planning its future direction in the coming decades (aims and objectives):
widen reach - improve the visibility/profile of HBSC; include children currently missed/not identified so far;
identify emerging health issues - review/develop HBSC content to address new challenges to young people’s health; and
build capacity/plan for succession - share knowledge/intelligence within the network, so junior network members learn skills and all aspects of the study development.

The ICC widely and continuously consults with research and experts to improve its work and to communicate its aims, objectives and core values which have been published.
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