Speakers - Conference on Health Literacy and Human Rights
9:25-9:30
WELCOME
Fabrizio D’ASCENZO
Commissioner, National Institute for Insurance against Accidents at Work, Italy
He graduated in Economics from the Faculty of Economics at 'La Sapienza' University in Rome with a 110/110 cum laude. He holds a PhD in Product Sciences.
A full professor at the Faculty of Economics at 'La Sapienza' University of Rome, since 2017 he has held the position of Dean of the aforementioned faculty. He has been President of the Master's Degree Course in Economics and Communication of Management and Innovation and, previously, Director of the Department of Management, Director of the ImpreSapiens Research Centre and Operational Director of the Campus Mentis project, commissioned to ImpreSapiens by the Prime Minister's Office for the job orientation of young recent graduates from all over Italy.
He has received two honorary doctorates from the State University of Economics and Finance in St. Petersburg (Russia) and the Bucharest University of Economic Sciences (ASE) and is an honorary professor at Zhongnam University of Economics and Law in Wuhan (China).
Author of over 200 publications in monographs, articles in national and international journals, proceedings of national and international congresses.
Appointed Extraordinary Commissioner of Inail by decree of the President of the Council of Ministers of 15 June 2023, at the proposal of the Minister of Labour and Social Policies.
09:30-10:00
OPENING
Assunta MORRESI
Representative of Italy to the Council of Europe Steering Committee for Human Rights in the fields of Biomedicine and Health (CDBIO)
Married, three children. She is Associate Professor of Physical Chemistry at the Department of Chemistry, Biology and Biotechnologies of the University of Perugia. She is President of the Intercourse Council for Degree and Master's Courses in the Chemical Area since November, 2021.
She is the author of more than 110 papers on Physical Chemistry published in international scientific journals, and more than a hundred contributions to national and international conference proceedings. She is also involved in scientific aspects related to bioethics issues, and governance aspects of Biotechnology and Life Sciences.
Among the national and international institutional appointments: since 2006, she is member of the National Bioethics Committee. She has been scientific adviser to the Ministers Maurizio Sacconi (Work, Health and Social Politics) and Beatrice Lorenzin (Health). She is a member of the Steering Committee for Human Rights in the fields of Biomedicine and Health (CDBIO), and she is a member of the Bureau since November 2020.
She is a columnist for the newspaper Avvenire. She was honored with the Order of “Merit of the Italian Republic” by Presidential Decree on December 27, 2013.
Eugenia ROCCELLA
Minister for Family, Natality & Equal Opportunities, Italy
Eugenia Roccella was born in Bologna, is married and has two children. She is a professional journalist; she was a columnist for Avvenire, the political culture magazine Ideazione, and has collaborated with several newspapers, including Il Giornale, Libero and Il Foglio. She has a degree in literature and a PhD in Historical studies of Italian literature. In 2007 she was spokesperson, with Savino Pezzotta, for the first Family Day.
She was a Member of Parliament in the 2008 and 2013 legislatures and Undersecretary for Welfare and Health. Re-elected in 2022, she was appointed Minister for Family, Natality and Equal Opportunities in the government led by Giorgia Meloni.
Roccella has published numerous books, including 'After feminism' (Ideazione editrice, 2001), 'End of motherhood', (Cantagalli 2015) 'Eluana must not die' (Rubbettino 2019). With Assuntina Morresi she wrote 'La favola dell'aborto facile. Miti e realtà della pillola Ru486" (Franco Angeli 2006).
Orazio SCHILLACI
Minister for Health, Italy
Prof. Orazio Schillaci, 56 years old doctor, Rector of the University of Tor Vergata from 2019, is the Minister of Health of the government headed by the Hon. Giorgia Meloni.
He is a full professor of Nuclear Medicine and was Dean of the Faculty of Medicine at the same university. In 2020 he was appointed as a member of the Scientific Committee of the Istituto Superiore della Sanità.
He has held positions in numerous scientific bodies. He is the author of over 350 scientific publications in peer reviewed journals and a member of the editorial boards of numerous international scientific journals. He was sworn in by the President of the Republic on 22 October 2022.
Daniele CANGEMI
Head, Human Rights, Justice and Legal Cooperation Standard Setting Activities, Directorate General Human Rights and Rule of Law, Council of Europe
Nicola Daniele Cangemi was born in Messina, Italy, on 6 December 1972. Married, two children. Since September 2021 he is the Head of the Department for Human Rights, Justice and Legal Cooperation Standard-setting activities at the Directorate General of Human Rights and Rule of Law of the Council of Europe. He holds a degree in Political Science from the LUISS University, Rome, and a Master’s degree from the College of Europe, Bruges. Working for the Council of Europe since 2001, he served as legal advisor, as Deputy Head of the Counter-terrorism task force, and as Head of the Human Rights Law and Policy Division, at the time of the elaboration of the ground-breaking Committee of Ministers’ recommendations on the promotion of human rights of older persons on combating discrimination on grounds of sexual orientation or gender identity, and of the working party which elaborated the draft legal instruments for the accession of the EU to the European Convention on Human Rights. Between 2014 and September 2021 he worked for the Directorate General of Democracy, first as Special Coordinator and then as Head of the Human Dignity and Gender Equality Department, supervising the Council of Europe work in the areas of Gender Equality, Violence against Women and Trafficking in Human Beings. In his current functions, he supervises the Organisation’s standard setting work in the areas of Human Rights, Justice and Legal Cooperation, including the secretariat of the Steering Committee for Human Rights, of the European Committee of Legal Cooperation and of the Consultative Councils for Judges and Prosecutors.
10:00-10:20
SESSION II: INTRODUCTORY REMARKS
Mattia PERADOTTO
Director General, National Office Against Racial Discrimination (UNAR), Italy
Born in 1989, Mattia PERADOTTO is a graduate in Management Engineering and Business Management from Politecnico di Milano. He also participated in an exchange program at the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology.
His diverse professional journey encompasses a range of roles at various levels of government and organizations. He began his career as the head of the secretariat for the President of the Judicial Commission for the staff of the Chamber of Deputies. He then moved on to serve as a key figure in the secretariat of the Senate Vice-President. Later, he assumed the position of Secretary General of a Foundation under the umbrella of the FEPS (Foundation for European Progressive Studies).
Following his work in the public sector, Peradotto transitioned into the Government, where he became the head of the secretariat for the Minister for Equal Opportunities and the Family. From August 2022, he took on the role of Director General at UNAR (National Office Against Racial Discrimination), which operates under the Presidency of the Council of Ministers.
Leyla KAYACIK
Special Representative of the Secretary General on Migration and Refugees, Council of Europe
A long-time member of the Council of Europe Secretariat, Ms Kayacik brings over 30 years of international experience in the field of human rights and the rule of law. During that time, she has served in a number of roles, including in the European Commission of Human Rights, the Secretariat of the European Social Charter, in the field and as Director of the Private Office of the Secretary General and Deputy Secretary General. She is currently Deputy Secretary of the Committee of Ministers.
Angelo Luigi VESCOVI
President, Italian Committee for Bioethics
10:20-10:40
SESSION III: COUNCIL OF EUROPE GUIDE TO HEALTH LITERACY
Leena PAAKKARI
Associate professor, University of Jyväskylä, Finland
Leena Paakkari is an Associate Professor at the University of Jyväskylä, Faculty of Sport and Health Sciences. She has 20 years of experience in health education teacher training. Currently, she leads national Health Behaviour in School-aged Children Study -research group in Finland, and is part of research project ‘Critical’ which aims to develop technological and societal innovations to support adolescents’ critical reading skills. Furthermore, her research has focused on advancing an understanding on disparities in adolescents’ health literacy in Europe. Paakkari has collaborated with several institutions such as WHO, UNESCO and Council of Europe.
11:10-12:40
SESSION IV: HEALTH LITERACY IN ACTION
Leena PAAKKARI
Associate professor, University of Jyväskylä, Finland
Leena Paakkari is an Associate Professor at the University of Jyväskylä, Faculty of Sport and Health Sciences. She has 20 years of experience in health education teacher training. Currently, she leads national Health Behaviour in School-aged Children Study -research group in Finland, and is part of research project ‘Critical’ which aims to develop technological and societal innovations to support adolescents’ critical reading skills. Furthermore, her research has focused on advancing an understanding on disparities in adolescents’ health literacy in Europe. Paakkari has collaborated with several institutions such as WHO, UNESCO and Council of Europe.
Ryan Alistair DOS SANTOS
Technical Officer – Digital Health. Data and Digital Health Unit, Division of Country Health Policies and Systems, WHO Regional Office for Europe
Ryan has worked for many years leading Information Technology management in some of the larger companies in Guyana, South America. He subsequently joined PAHO/WHO in the Americas in 2008, first in IT, then increasingly in Digital Health and health systems development at the county level, including digital health strategy development and platform implementations.
He currently serves as a Technical Officer - Digital Health at the WHO Regional office for Europe, where he supports the regional office and member states in various acpects of digital transformation and in the operationalization of the Regional Digital Health Action Plan for the WHO European Region 2023-2030.
He has a background in computer science and eHealth management.
Päivi RASI-HEIKKINEN
Professor of Education, University of Lapland, Finland
Päivi Rasi-Heikkinen is a Professor of Education at the University of Lapland’s Faculty of Education, Finland. Holding a PhD in Education and SScD in Social Psychology, Rasi-Heikkinen has 20 years of experience in working in and leading research and development projects in the field of media literacy education. Her research has focused on older people’s digital inclusion, digital competences, and media literacies. Lately, her research has also focused on older people’s digital competences within the context of eHealth.
Presently, she is leading a project titled MediaRoboLit 65+ that focuses on media and robot literacies of people 65+ living in Finland and their related instruction and support needs. The project targets the dimensions of media literacies that are particularly significant for this population, such as news literacy, health media literacy, and robot literacy. For further information, please visit: https://paivirasi.webnode.page
Kristof VANFRAECHEM
Founder and CEO, Data for Patients, Spain
Caregiver, strong advocate for 'patient advocacy’ and engaging with expert patients and patient organizations more strategically around digital and data focused healthcare change. Built a start-up focused on partnering with EU level patient organization's to help them scale their data and digital capabilities across diseases and countries. Biomedical scientist, formerly Vice President in pharma and vaccine international R&D focused on clinical and real world data studies, operating model re-design and strategic change.
Kristine SØRENSEN
Global Health Literacy Academy, Danemark
Kristine Sørensen, PhD is an executive advisor on health literacy. With a background in public health and global diplomacy, she empowers leaders to improve health literacy by design. She works with the public and private sector as well as academia and civic society to develop health literacy for all. Collaborations include, for example, WHO, Council of Europe. Governments, McKinsey, patient organizations, and universities. Kristine Sørensen was Honorary Professor at I-Shou University in Taiwan and is the first President of International Health Literacy Association and Chair of Health Literacy Europe. She is an award-winning, global thought leader in her field who has published highly cited research and books that have reached audiences within and beyond the health sector.
Cécile Allaire
Responsible in the field of accessibility and health literacy, Santé publique France
Cécile Allaire has been responsible for public communication accessibility at Sante publique France since 2008.
She is specialized in the area of health literacy and the development of accessible design-based information. She plays a key role in Sante publique France to improve the accessibility of information and communication for all populations, including migrants, the disabled, the elderly, people with lower health literacy or people with poorer knowledge. As such, she co-authored a book entitled “Communiquer pour tous”.
She works across different departments and with various health experts that cover topics such as immunization, nutrition, sexuality, extreme climates, alcohol and other addictions.
Prior to this, after a background in health economics, Cécile worked on the evaluation of substitute substance abuse programs, and for a foundation to develop innovations in the disability sector.
Guglielmo BONACCORSI
Associate Professor of Public Health, University of Florence, Italy
Guglielmo Bonaccorsi is associate professor in Hygiene and Preventive Medicine at the University of Florence. He is currently the Director of the School of specialization in hygiene and public health at the same University, and in the recent past has held numerous academic responsibilities as President of Degree Courses and Masters in public health issues and healthcare organizations. Author of over 200 publications in international journals on issues of health promotion, prevention, health organization, and health literacy, which he has explored in different fields: from the individual to healthcare organizations, from the community to public health interventions.
Stephan Van den BROUCKE
Professor of Health Psychology, Catholic University of Louvain, Belgium
Stephan Van den Broucke is professor of Health Psychology at the UC Louvain, Belgium. His research expertise includes health promotion, public health psychology, health literacy, patient education, accident prevention, and public health capacity building. He has supervised a broad range of national and international research projects, over 20 PhD projects, and more than a hundred master thesis studies, authored over 150 scientific publications, and taught students and health professionals in Europe, North and Latin America, Africa and Asia. Prof. Van den Broucke as served as an evaluator for research projects submitted to the EC and to research foundations in Belgium, the Netherlands, Germany, Portugal, Israel, Hong Kong, Kuwait and Québec, Canada; participated in accreditation committees for training programs in the Netherlands and Switzerland; and gave policy advice to authoritative bodies on public health in Belgium, to the European Commission, and to the Open Science Foundation. He is an elected Board member of the International Union for Health Promotion and Education (IUHPE); a member of the Technical Advisory Group on Behavioral and Cultural Insights of WHO/Euro, of the Working Group on Social Research Methods and Advice of the European Food Safety Authority, and of the Scientific Advisory Group of the Asian Health Literacy Association. He is also president of the HealthNest consortium on health literacy in Belgium.
Urška KOŠIR
Clinical and applied researcher, Institute of Oncology, Slovenia
Urška Košir works in Research and Development within cancer screening programs at the Institute of Oncology, Ljubljana in Slovenia. She holds a PhD from the Department of Experimental Psychology at the University of Oxford where she studied psycho-social challenges and adaptation to cancer in youth. Along the academic pursuits, she promotes health literacy and is an avid patient advocate, collaborating with Youth Cancer Europe on several EU-wide projects such as STRONG-AYA and EU-CAYAS NET. Her work aims to bridge the academic, public, and NGO sectors and contribute to the development of actionable, evidence-based policy and clinical guidelines that will limit the existing inequalities in cancer outcomes.
14:00-14:45 SESSION IV (CONTINUATION): HEALTH LITERACY IN ACTION
Agnese CANEVARI
Head of Study, Research and Institutional Relations Unit, National Office Against Racial Discrimination (UNAR), Italy
Agnese Nadia Canevari
Manager, Head of the Studies, Reserches and Institutional relations Unit of the National Office aginst Racial Discrimination (UNAR) – Department for equal opportunities – Presidency of the Council of Ministers. Espert in human rigths, equality and antidiscrimination. Responsible of projects related to the promotion of equal treatment and the fight against discrimination in various grounds. Member of working groups at the European Commission and the Council of Europe.
Graduated in Political Science, master in European institutions and constitutional history.
Vincenzo DE ANGELIS
Director, National Blood Center, Italy
Vincenzo De Angelis, MD, born in 1956.
Graduated in Medicine, Padua University School of Medicine, 1981. Speciality Diploma in Haematology (Padua University, 1984) and Clinical Biology (Padua University, 1988). Since 1982, he has been working in different Italian Transfusion Services (Pordenone General Hospital, Aviano National Research Cancer Institute, Trieste University Hospital, Udine University Hospital).
At present he is the Director at the Italian National Blood Centre, Ministry of Health, the Italian Competent Authority on blood. He also acts as Chairperson of the CD-P-TS at the EDQM (Council of Europe, Strasbourg) and President of the European School of Transfusion Medicine (ESTM). He is Member of the European Blood Alliance and of the ISBT Working Parties on Clinical Transfusion and Donors and Donations.
Author or co-Author of more than 150 publications (chapters on books, articles, abstracts) on different aspects of transfusion medicine.
Maria Consuelo ABDEL HAFIZ MOHAMED RAMADAN
PhD student, Magna Grecia University of Catanzaro, Italy
Maria Consuelo Abdel Hafiz Mohamed Ramandan, co-founder and coordinator of the advocacy and research team within the Kethane Movement. She is a sociologist with a master's degree in Criminology and a master's degree in Public and Private Administration Organizations and Social Change. She has also completed a course in conflict analysis and management. Currently, she is a doctoral candidate in Migration, European Healthcare Systems, and Rights Protection at the University of Catanzaro Magna Grecia in Calabria. In addition to her academic pursuits, she is also a teacher of drums and percussion.
Musli ALIEVSKI
Roma Community Stay Human, Italy
Having arrived in Italy as a refugee fleeing the wars in the former Yugoslavia, Musli Alievski has always been dedicated to helping those experiencing marginalization and social poverty. In 2016, he founded the volunteer organization Stay Human, which has been actively involved in social and educational support projects both in Italy and abroad. His determination to improve the living conditions of socially vulnerable individuals has driven him to work in the field of social services, where he has served as the coordinator of Reception Centers for Asylum Seekers (CAS) in the province of Pesaro-Urbino.
14:45-15:15
SESSION IV (CONTINUATION) HEALTH LITERACY IN ACTION: OPEN DISCUSSION
Moderator: Lorenzo MONTRASIO/Lee HIBBARD, Human Rights and Biomedicine Division, Human Rights Directorate, Council of Europe
15:15-15:45
SESSION V: HEALTH LITERACY TRENDS AND PERSPECTIVES, ACROSS EUROPE AND BEYOND
Kristine SØRENSEN
Global Health Literacy Academy, Denmark
Kristine Sørensen, PhD is an executive advisor on health literacy. With a background in public health and global diplomacy, she empowers leaders to improve health literacy by design. She works with the public and private sector as well as academia and civic society to develop health literacy for all. Collaborations include, for example, WHO, Council of Europe. Governments, McKinsey, patient organizations, and universities. Kristine Sørensen was Honorary Professor at I-Shou University in Taiwan and is the first President of International Health Literacy Association and Chair of Health Literacy Europe. She is an award-winning, global thought leader in her field who has published highly cited research and books that have reached audiences within and beyond the health sector.
Miguel Telo DE ARRIAGA
Head of the Division of Literacy, Health and Well-being, Directorate-General of Health, Portugal
Head of the Division of Literacy, Health and Well-being at the Directorate General of Health. PhD in Psychology, Master in Clinical and Health Psychology.
Member of the National Task Force for COVID-19 and Member of the National Behavioral Insights Task Force for COVID-19.
With work and coordination of projects in the areas of Public Health, Health Promotion, Health Literacy, Definition of Criteria of Good Practices in Health Promotion and Implementation of Health Policies and Active and Healthy Aging. Specialist in Psychosocial Intervention in Situations of Crisis and Emergency and in Communication of Crisis and Communication of Risk.
Visiting Professor and collaborating Member of the CRC-W - Catholic Research Center for Psychological, Family and Social Well-being.
Helen RYAN
Health Lead in Adult Literacy for Life Programme Office, Department of Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science, Ireland
Helen has worked in the adult literacy sector for 25 years. She is currently working as health lead in the Adult Literacy for Life programme office. She is on secondment from the National Adult Literacy Agency (NALA) where she worked on policy and research, developing literacy friendly standards and supporting services to use a literacy friendly approach. She worked with health and social care services to:
- raise awareness of health literacy, health numeracy and digital health literacy needs;
- do literacy audits and support organisations to use a literacy friendly approach, including plain language and universal design; and
- promote literacy support opportunities for patients and staff with literacy, numeracy and digital literacy needs.
15:45-16:00
SESSION VI: CLOSING REMARKS
Mattia PERADOTTO
Director General, National Office Against Racial Discrimination (UNAR), Italy
Born in 1989, Mattia PERADOTTO is a graduate in Management Engineering and Business Management from Politecnico di Milano. He also participated in an exchange program at the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology.
His diverse professional journey encompasses a range of roles at various levels of government and organizations. He began his career as the head of the secretariat for the President of the Judicial Commission for the staff of the Chamber of Deputies. He then moved on to serve as a key figure in the secretariat of the Senate Vice-President. Later, he assumed the position of Secretary General of a Foundation under the umbrella of the FEPS (Foundation for European Progressive Studies).
Following his work in the public sector, Peradotto transitioned into the Government, where he became the head of the secretariat for the Minister for Equal Opportunities and the Family. From August 2022, he took on the role of Director General at UNAR (National Office Against Racial Discrimination), which operates under the Presidency of the Council of Ministers.
Assunta MORRESI
Representative of Italy to the Council of Europe Steering Committee for Human Rights in the fields of Biomedicine and Health (CDBIO)
Married, three children. She is Associate Professor of Physical Chemistry at the Department of Chemistry, Biology and Biotechnologies of the University of Perugia. She is President of the Intercourse Council for Degree and Master's Courses in the Chemical Area since November, 2021.
She is the author of more than 110 papers on Physical Chemistry published in international scientific journals, and more than a hundred contributions to national and international conference proceedings. She is also involved in scientific aspects related to bioethics issues, and governance aspects of Biotechnology and Life Sciences.
Among the national and international institutional appointments: since 2006, she is member of the National Bioethics Committee. She has been scientific adviser to the Ministers Maurizio Sacconi (Work, Health and Social Politics) and Beatrice Lorenzin (Health). She is a member of the Steering Committee for Human Rights in the fields of Biomedicine and Health (CDBIO), and she is a member of the Bureau since November 2020.
She is a columnist for the newspaper Avvenire. She was honored with the Order of “Merit of the Italian Republic” by Presidential Decree on December 27, 2013.
Representative of the Minister for Health, Italy
Daniele CANGEMI
Head, Human Rights, Justice and Legal Cooperation Standard Setting Activities, Council of Europe
Nicola Daniele Cangemi was born in Messina, Italy, on 6 December 1972. Married, two children. Since September 2021 he is the Head of the Department for Human Rights, Justice and Legal Cooperation Standard-setting activities at the Directorate General of Human Rights and Rule of Law of the Council of Europe. He holds a degree in Political Science from the LUISS University, Rome, and a Master’s degree from the College of Europe, Bruges. Working for the Council of Europe since 2001, he served as legal advisor, as Deputy Head of the Counter-terrorism task force, and as Head of the Human Rights Law and Policy Division, at the time of the elaboration of the ground-breaking Committee of Ministers’ recommendations on the promotion of human rights of older persons on combating discrimination on grounds of sexual orientation or gender identity, and of the working party which elaborated the draft legal instruments for the accession of the EU to the European Convention on Human Rights. Between 2014 and September 2021 he worked for the Directorate General of Democracy, first as Special Coordinator and then as Head of the Human Dignity and Gender Equality Department, supervising the Council of Europe work in the areas of Gender Equality, Violence against Women and Trafficking in Human Beings. In his current functions, he supervises the Organisation’s standard setting work in the areas of Human Rights, Justice and Legal Cooperation, including the secretariat of the Steering Committee for Human Rights, of the European Committee of Legal Cooperation and of the Consultative Councils for Judges and Prosecutors.