On 3 December 2024, the Minister of Health of the Slovak Republic Kamil Šaško attended the meeting of the Council of Health Ministers of the EU in Brussels. A number of important topics were on the agenda to strengthen the European Health Union. Ministers addressed the topics of cardiovascular disease, organ transplantation, the fight against cancer, the competitiveness of the pharmaceutical industry and the digitisation of the health sector.
EU ministers endorsed two Council conclusions on cardiovascular health and organ donation and transplantation, which contain a set of measures to address chronic diseases. These conclusions contain a set of medium- and long-term measures to address a number of chronic diseases, explained by the Minister for Health Kamil Šaško. Ministers also adopted the Council recommendations on smoke and aerosol-free environments. It is another important step towards the implementation of the European Plan to Combat Cancer, the Minister said.
The main discussion of the meeting was on the competitiveness of the EU pharmaceutical industry in the light of the Draghi report. Slovakia supports a number of recommendations to the farm sector, which is undoubtedly an important contributor to the EU economy. The Health Minister also said that we should focus on digitisation in order to reduce the regulatory burden and increase predictability and transparency in the supply chain in order to better monitor the movement of medicines. We consider digitalisation important for the better functioning of the whole health sector.
During the Council, the Slovak Minister for Health met bilaterally with the newly elected Commissioner for Animal Health and Welfare Olivér Várhelyi. He congratulated him on his recent appointment as Commissioner. This function is of great importance for the health care and well-being of patients, and Minister Šaško highlighted. In addition, he met with his Czech colleague Vlastimil Valka. They discussed topics of current and future cooperation between Slovakia and the Czech Republic.
