Slovakian health priorities on chronic diseases

While Slovakia took over the EU Council Presidency on the 1st of July for the next six months until the 31st of December 2016, the Slovak Health Minister Tomáš Drucker presented the Slovakian Presidency priorities in the health field to the European Parliament ENVI Committee on the 12th of July.

He introduced actions envisioned for the prevention of chronic diseases, which has been set a priority of the Presidency’s health programme. Highlighting that improving the diet of European citizens is an effective way to reduce obesity and overweight risk factors, he further explained that the Presidency will focus on strengthening best practices amongst Member States in food reformulation and encouraging joint initiatives aimed at developing healthier diets and reducing the high occurrence of chronic non-communicable diseases in Europeans.

Mr Drucker outlined the importance of setting an EU-wide framework for overall healthier lifestyles, even if this is challenging for some policy issues linked with disease triggers, including physical activity, eating habits or air quality.