The State Secretary of the Ministry of Health Michal Štofko attended the informal meeting of the Council for Employment, Social Policy, Health and Consumer Affairs (EPSCO - part health) in Budapest on Thursday, 25 July 2024.
One of the topics discussed was cardiovascular diseases, which are among the most common causes of death in Europe, including Slovakia. The European Union can play a key role in coordinating a broad campaign to prevent these diseases. A coherent strategy for advanced therapies and innovation should be promoted as well as emphasis on preventive measures. This includes promoting healthier health styles, wider public health education and more accessible health services. This also means supporting programmes to reduce the incidence and consumption of tobacco and alcohol, which represent the most risk factors associated with cardiovascular diseases.
The participants also discussed the issue of organ donation, as the EU has been facing a challenge for years due to the shortage of organ donors, which has a direct impact on thousands of patients awaiting life-saving transplants. There is therefore a need to improve donation and transplantation systems across the EU, which requires innovative medical procedures, strong legal and ethical frameworks and comprehensive public education in order to promote a culture of organ donation.
At a bilateral meeting with the director of the WHO Regional Office for Europe Hans Klugem, the State Secretary discussed strategic priorities for cooperation between MZ SR and the WHO Regional Office for Europe, WHO National Office in Slovakia.
In the Council's discussion, the V4 countries discussed a regional view of the European health situation from the V4 perspective, including a review of the pharmaceutical package.
State Secretary of the MZ SR in bilateral negotiations with Deputy Czech Minister of Health Jakub Dvořáčko addressed the issue of possible cooperation in the sharing of drug stocks. Judit Bidló, Hungarian Ministry of Health, discussed cross-border cooperation in the field of emergency health services.
