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A Government Council for Public Health will be established, the Czech Republic will be among the first in the EU to have it

by AI | 04.Sep 2024 | Europe in brief AI

It will focus on promoting a healthy lifestyle, disease prevention, and monitoring health risks.

HPV vaccination in the gynecological office. Photo: Stefan Puchner/dpa

Prague – The government today agreed to establish a Government Council for Public Health as its advisory body. It will focus on promoting a healthy lifestyle, disease prevention, and monitoring health risks. It will meet for the first time in the fall. This was announced today in a press release by the Ministry of Health (MoH). Originally, its establishment was promised by the end of last year. The government office establishes roughly twenty similar advisory bodies, for example, for competitiveness, human rights, or research, development, and innovation.

“It is part of the planned restructuring of public health in the Czech Republic,” said Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of the Interior Vít Rakušan (STAN) at a press conference after the government meeting. According to him, the requirement to establish the council also comes from the European Union and the World Health Organization (WHO). “We are one of the first states to establish this council, which also gives us a competitive advantage in potential projects that could concern the Czech Republic,” he added.

“Prevention, public health, and a healthy lifestyle are not something that only the Ministry of Health deals with. It is a multidisciplinary issue, and if public health support is to be truly effective, it is essential to involve more other ministries, local governments, industry, and other actors,” said Minister of Health Vlastimil Válek (TOP 09) in a press release. The ministry also wants to focus more on public health support, for example, on the national strategy to fight obesity, heart disease, or address the issue of energy drinks or salt in food.

The chairman of the council will be the Minister of Health, and the vice-chairman will be the chief hygienist. The new head of this section at the ministry, the current director of the National Institute of Public Health Barbora Macková, has been advocating for the establishment of this body. “It means, among other things, the firm anchoring of primary prevention activities as an integral part of public health care,” she said in a press release. The establishment of the council is part of upcoming changes in the hygiene service. From 2025, for example, the system of independent regional hygiene stations (KHS), two health institutes, and the National Institute of Public Health is to gradually transform under central management. (September 4)