From the editors

Dear Colleagues, It is our great pleasure to share with you the new issue of Journal of Health Inequalities. For this issue the Journal takes the form of a special edition, principally devoted to the recent scientific meeting organised on 9-10 June 2019 at the President Stanisław Wojciechowski State University of Applied Sciences in Kalisz, Poland – the Calisia World Conference on Family Health. In the first part of this issue you will find a summary of the Calisia Conference and accompanying scientific events. We are very grateful to the esteemed scientists and researchers participating in the conference, who in just a few weeks were able to provide us with the materials necessary to prepare a detailed report from this event. Many of the abstracts presented in this issue are in effect announcements of full publications, which our speakers agreed to prepare for the next issue of the Journal. The conference concluded with an awards ceremony of the Health Promotion Foundation’s prestigious Golden Lungs, awarded since 1996 to individuals who made a significant impact on public health and quality of life in Poland. This year’s awardees were (in alphabetical order): Sonia Angell, Professor of Medicine, Columbia University, Department of Medicine, and former Deputy Commissioner, NYC Health Department, USA; Cliff Douglas, Vice-President, Tobacco Control, American Cancer Society, USA; Mark Parascandola, National Cancer Institute, USA; Aleksandra Herbeć, University College London, UK; Krystian Kinastowski, Mayor of the city of Kalisz, Poland; Michał Kleiber, Polish Academy of Sciences, Poland; Anna Matuszewska, the President Stanisław Wojciechowski State University of Applied Sciences in Kalisz, Poland; Ewa Milewska, Association Kalisz-Ostrów Agglomeration, Poland; Iwona Młoźniak, Health Promotion Foundation, Poland; Katarzyna Rosik, Health Promotion Foundation, Poland; Małgorzata Stelmach, President of the MSD Foundation for Women’s Health, Poland; Ewa Wasielewska, the President Stanisław Wojciechowski State University of Applied Sciences in Kalisz, Poland; and Andrzej Rogowski, President of Multimedia Poland. The awards ceremony was reported, among others, by the website of the American Cancer Society . The second part of this issue turns to original and special papers submitted to the Journal. Among them is an important analysis of the epidemiology of pancreatic cancer prepared by leading epidemiologists from the International Prevention Research Institute (iPRI) in Lyon, France, and from the Strathclyde University Global Public Health (see article: Global burden of pancreas cancer: regional disparities in incidence, mortality, and survival on pages 96-112). We would also like to bring to your attention several articles devoted to tobacco control. For some time, the public health debate about the place and role of nicotine delivery devices (NDDs) in aiding (or hindering) the cessation of conventional cigarettes, and in ultimately achieving the goal of eliminating tobacco-related lung cancer, has been intensifying. In this issue, a team of researchers collaborating with the Journal presents an expert opinion on the regulatory and scientific challenges associated with NDDs in Poland, and on the recommended policy measures that should be taken in going forward (see article: Expert opinion for the Polish Chamber of Physicians and Dentists on innovative tobacco products and electronic cigarettes on pages 67-70). We also continue our series discussing recent tobacco control developments in Central and Eastern European countries. In this issue, our guest authors focus on the case of Lithuania (pages 80-85). We would also particularly like to recommend a new article by Dr Mark Parascandola and colleagues from the National Cancer Institute in Bethesda, USA. It is a systematic review and meta-analysis of maternal secondhand exposure to smoke and neonatal outcomes (see article: Systematic review and meta-analysis of maternal secondhand smoke exposure and neonatal outcomes on pages 53-66). Last but not least, this issue of JHI (pages 113-116) also includes a tribute to John William Powles, one of the world’s leading epidemiologists, who recently passed away. John Powles’ work and research had a monumental impact on the health improvement in Eastern Europe (pages 115-116). Once again, we would like to thank all authors and collaborators who contributed to the current issue of the Journal. Witold A. Zatoński, Andrzej Wojtyła ACS receives second Golden Lungs award from Poland. Available from: https://www.mysocietysource.org/Pages/newsdetails.aspx?ItemID=1300