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Brussels – The planned European cardiovascular plan must be based on prevention and must be more medical and less political, said outgoing Czech Minister of Health Vlastimil Válek today after the end of the meeting in Brussels. The plan to improve cardiovascular health in the EU has not yet been published, but according to Válek, there have been indications that it is not heading in the right direction. The Czech National Cardiovascular Plan, which was approved last December, places emphasis precisely on prevention, early detection and effective treatment. In this context, Válek offered at the meeting in Brussels that Czech experts can help with the preparation of the European plan.
“We in the Czech Republic were one of the first countries to adopt a very robust cardiovascular plan. It is worked out in detail and I dare say that a number of other European countries are now copying it,” said Válek. According to him, the European cardiovascular plan was originally supposed to look like this model as well, but informal information that has appeared has raised concerns that it “could be more political and less medical,” added the Czech minister.
“The plan must be based on prevention. It must not be forgotten that it must also concern kidney diseases and must include parameters that need to be monitored in patients as part of preventive programs and which we will monitor in the Czech Republic from January as part of preventive check-ups,” declared the minister, adding that this position was supported at the meeting by the majority of countries, both small and large. The idea that Czechia can “lend” its experts to Brussels was also welcomed, according to him, by the European Commissioner for Health Olivér Várhelyi. (2 December)