1.1. Understanding health, well-being and disease

A better understanding of the determinants of health is required in order to provide evidence for effective health promotion and disease prevention, and will also allow the development of comprehensive health and well-being indicators in the Union based on existing data sources and indicator systems. Environmental, behavioural (including life-style), psychological, organisational, cultural, socio-economic, biological and genetic factors, in their broadest senses, will be studied. Approaches will include the long term study of cohorts and their linkage with data derived from "omics" research, systems bio-medicine including relevant applications of systems biology and other methods. In particular, a better understanding of the environment as a determinant of health will require an interdisciplinary approach integrating amongst others human-relevant molecular biological, epidemiological and toxicological approaches and resultant data to study the modes of action of various chemicals, combined exposures to pollutants and other environmental and climate-related stressors, to perform integrated toxicological testing and to seek alternatives to animal testing. Innovative approaches to exposure assessment are needed using new-generation biomarkers based on 'omics' and epigenetics, human biomonitoring, personal exposure assessments and modelling to understand combined, cumulative and emerging exposures, integrating socio-economic, cultural, occupational, psychological and behavioural factors. Improved links with environmental data using advanced information systems will be supported. In this way, existing and planned policies and programmes can be assessed and policy support provided. Similarly, improved behavioural interventions, prevention and education programmes can be developed, including those pertaining to health literacy in nutrition, physical activity, vaccination and other primary care interventions. There is a need for an improved understanding of health and disease, throughout the human life cycle, so that new and better prevention measures, diagnosis, treatments and rehabilitation measures can be developed. Interdisciplinary, basic and translational research on the patho-physiology of disease is essential to improve the understanding of all aspects of disease processes, including a re-classification of normal variation and disease based on molecular data, and to validate and use research results in clinical applications. Underpinning research will encompass and encourage development and use of new tools and approaches for the generation of biomedical data and will include bio-imaging, "omics", high throughput and systems medicine approaches. These activities will demand close linkage between fundamental and clinical research and with long term cohort studies (and the corresponding research domains) as described above. Close links with research and medical infrastructures (databases, bio-banks etc.) will also be required for standardisation, storage, sharing and access to data, which are all essential for maximising data utility and for stimulating more innovative and effective ways of analysing and combining datasets. Human populations are under threat from new and emerging infections, including of zoonotic origin, as well as from those which result from drug resistance to existing pathogens and from other direct and indirect consequences of climate change and from the international movement of people. New or improved methods for surveillance, diagnosis, early warning networks, health service organisation and preparedness campaigns are needed for the modelling of epidemics and for effective pandemic response. Efforts to maintain and enhance capabilities to combat drug-resistant infectious diseases are also needed.

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Source: EUR-Lex (Cellar) · retrieved 2026-11-04 · Text as adopted (Official Journal); later amendments are not incorporated in this text.