Ministry of Health of the Slovak Republic under the Swiss-Slovak programme Health was supported by the European Public Health Week 2026, which is an annual activity to strengthen public health and its main theme this year was sustainable investment in health and well-being.
In the first week of May, Slovak experts participated in the European campaign in the framework of regular training of prevention coordinators, programme of Swiss-Slovak cooperation Health.
Theme events Prioritising equality through inclusive investment in health experts on:
- health, poverty and social determinants;
- the health of people in social and housing need;
- data collection,
- examples of projects of socio-health challenges;
- challenges and solutions for preventing marginalised Roma communities;
- equality and cost-effectiveness of health prevention and promotion - from the perspective of FBLR;
- example of men's health solutions, targeted interventions and removal of barriers to early detection of selected non-communicable diseases, including prostate cancer in Prešov Self-Governing Region.
Daniela Kállay of the Department of Public Health of the Ministry of Health of the Slovak Republic stressed at the outset that health inequalities arise as a result of social, economic and environmental factors beyond the scope of the health department. Public health should take into account fair access and the needs of individual population groups.
Investments targeting vulnerable and disadvantaged groups bring better results, greater social cohesion, economic productivity and long-term sustainability of systems. Social policies should address the causes of the disease. Apply health-related approaches, including poverty, housing, working conditions, educational levels, accessibility of services to groups with different types of barriers.
Health equality cannot be achieved without clear communication, involvement of communities in action-making and strengthening people's ability to focus on health and prevention.
Investments under the Swiss-Slovak programme aim to reduce health inequalities between regional and social groups. It is a long way to go, and the event in the European Week of Public Health has given the opportunity to discuss experts to show how health inequalities reduce the cost-effective interventions that benefit better health indicators and lower spending.
Although we do not yet have systematic data collections in Slovakia in the field of socio-economic inequalities in health, experts have expressed their conviction that thanks also to players such as the Vedo Foundation, Equita Foundation, Healthy regions and their cooperation with regional and local government, we have valuable data that we can continue to work with - whether using their methodologies at national level or finding system solutions based on available findings.
In Slovakia we also have some quality pilot examples of good practice in which there is great potential, because they are based on evidence, verified in the Slovak context, and so on transferable and implementable at different levels.
Supplementary information on the training of the Switzerland-Slovak Health Prevention Coordinators
Under Component 1 of the Swiss-Slovak Programme Health in MZ SR is regularly trained in prevention coordinators with a focus on strengthening professional, communication and coordination competences in the development of the model of health prevention management and promotion.
The aim is to put in place a professional, structured process where prevention coordinators reflect their work, receive feedback and seek better and more effective ways of dealing with work situations. The Education Programme will have a supporting, educational and development function to enhance professional competences and skills.
Education has since January 2026 included topics for preventing non-communicable diseases in the context of activities at European level; EU regulation on the EHDS digital health area; tasks and competences of the coordinator in the prevention management system; communication; obesity; nutrition; National screening centre; Care4Diabetes; cross-sectoral cooperation and mapping of actors. Among the upcoming topics of education can be mentioned the event to healthy regions and MRC on 16 June and the meeting with the Association of Health Insurance Companies on 23 June.
The topics addressed by regular online learning include:
- EU Frameworks for Prevention (Health Union, EU4Health, Europe
- Roles and responsibilities of the coordinator in the prevention management system (the role of the prevention coordinator at national, regional and local level - mandate, responsibilities, expected outputs, cross-sectoral cooperation (health, education, social, NGOs, self-government), networking, takeholder mapping and partnership management).
- Data-oriented prevention and indicators (national registers, OECD/WHO/EU data; basic principles of epidemiology and impact assessment of preventive interventions).
- Design and implementation of preventive programmes (design of intervention programmes (need assessment, theory of change, logical framework, etc.), planning of activities, timetable, risks and mitigation, linking with available financial mechanisms (MFF2028-2034, EU4Health, Horizon, ESF+, Interreg).
- Communication, participation and health literacy (co-creation), behavioural knowledge, involvement of communities and patient organisations, communication strategies in prevention).
- Financing and sustainability (integration of prevention into budgets, overview of national and European funding instruments for prevention, European Semester).
- Ethics, equality and human rights (health equality - geography, socio-economic status, marginalised groups, stigmatisation, data protection, informed consent, sensitive groups).
- Professionalization of the role (development of professional identity: leadership in prevention, personal development plan, peer learning, Slovak community of prevention coordinators).
Thanks to Slovak-Swiss cooperation we can work on the effectiveness of measures to shift the level of preventive health care in Slovakia. Swiss support is crucial for the implementation of innovative solutions in self-governing regions and cities.
Successful implementation of the Slovak Health Programme contributes to the goals set:
- Increasing participation in prevention programmes by 40% by 2030
- Reduction of incidence and mortality of cardiovascular and cancer diseases
- Saving healthcare costs due to less need for advanced disease treatment
- Improving citizens' health literacy and proactive access to their own health
Switzerland-Slovak Programme Health is built on the Health principle in all policies, which focuses on integrating health into different sectoral policies in order to improve public health and achieve wider societal benefits (see. Annex on the programme Health).