The Slovenia’s Presidency:shall continue to strive for the implementation of joint priorities and commitments mutually developed within the framework of the 18-month programme of German-Portuguese-Slovenian Presidency.
They are based on the promotion of health by encouraging a healthy lifestyle, particularly healthy nutrition and physical activity, prevention and control of communicable diseases such as HIV/AIDS and flu pandemics, innovations in healthcare and accessibility of healthcare services.
Slovenia as the presiding country shall concentrate on:
reducing the burden of cancer disease, which remains one of the more severe public health problems in the EU regardless of the numerous activities and endeavours of the Member States. The goal is to promote additional activities at a political level, and to adopt orientations in support of different measures both at the level of EU and in Member States, which shall – considering the existing discrepancies between the Member States – contribute to the promotion of healthy lifestyle and the prevention of cancer as well as to a more successful treatment and a quality living with this disease. Slovenia will address the issue of cancer at a higher political level within the Community framework.
The second priority on health for the Slovenian Presidency will stress on the reduction of alcohol use and the damage associated with excessive consumption, the latter being the third most important causative factor of disease and premature death in the European Union, especially among the younger population.
Alcohol is also the main cause of health inequalities among the EU States as well as of domestic violence and violence against children. The problem should be addressed by the exchange of good practices and experience between the Member States, as well as by established examples of innovation in reducing alcohol-related accidents and injuries.
the Slovenian Presidency will work further on the IT system development in healthcare, which facilitates faster intervention and more effective information exchange between health institutions. To this end, the Ministry of Health is going to organize an eHealth conference during the Presidency.
Equal importance shall be attributed to the regular Pharmaceutical Forum aimed at ensuring the development of optimal drugs accessible to all EU residents. In terms of public health, the main objective of the Forum is to ensure physical and cost-effective accessibility of effective drugs and accurate information to the public on the acquisition and use of the mentioned drugs.
Besides the listed priorities and further implementation of the joint commitments of Germany, Portugal and Slovenia, the dossiers on the agenda inherited from the preceding Presidencies shall be taken over. The foreseen more demanding dossiers include: the provision of healthcare services, which would ensure the European citizens high-quality and safe healthcare services and their flow; the European Health Strategy with its basic objective to define balance and comprehensiveness in the area of public health at the EU level, which shall contribute to a better health of European citizens; and the management of the area of human organ donation and transplantation.
Calendar of events
*14.01.2008 - 15.01.2008, Heads of Medicine Agencies Meeting
*22.01.2008, ENVI Committee Meeting – Presentation of the Presidency Priorities, Minister of Health, Zofija Mazej Kukovič (poss.)
* 07.02.2008 - 08.02.2008 Conference on Cancer
* 29.02.2008 Employment, Social Policy, Health and Consumer Affairs Council (EPSCO)
* 13.03.2008 - 14.03.2008 Meeting of Directors-General for Health
* 02.04.2008 - 03.04.2008 Meeting of the High-Level Committee on Public Health
* 02.04.2008 - 04.04.2008 Conference on Alcohol (Barcelona)
* 07.04.2008 - 08.04.2008 Heads of Medicine Agencies Meeting
* 17.04.2008 - 18.04.2008 Informal Meeting of Ministers for Health
* 28.04.2008 - 29.04.2008 Meeting of Representatives of EU Pharmaceutical Pricing and Reimbursement Authorities
* 05.05.2008 - 07.05.2008 eHealth Conference
* 07.05.2008 EU Drugs Coordinators Meeting
* 16.05.2008 - 17.05.2008 7th European Meeting of People Experiencing Poverty
* 09.06.2008 - 10.06.2008 Employment, Social Policy, Health and Consumer Affairs Council (EPSCO)
Update
29.02.2008 - Meeting of the Employment, Social Policy, Health and Consumer Affairs Council (EPSCO)
During a meeting of the Employment, Social Policy, Health and Consumer Affairs Council (EPSCO), Marjeta Cotman, Slovenian Minister of Labour, Family and Social Affairs, underlined the necessity of strengthening the investment in “modernising the labour market and improving employment”.
The Council President, Mrs Cotman, stressed that “the Lisbon Strategy is now entering its final stage” and expressed her desire to “continue focusing on its implementation in each of the Member States”. The Council also underlined the importance of maintaining the stability of employment guidelines in the new cycle of the Lisbon Strategy and of defining the priority tasks to increase employment.
The EPSCO Council reached a political agreement on the status of persons with disability within the European Union. This Resolution:
supports the findings and recommendations of the European Action Plan 2008-2009;
calls for the ratification and implementation of the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities and contains new expectations for development in this field;
encourages disabled persons to be active in labour market and their inclusion in the community; and
calls attention to the importance of strengthening dialogue between persons with disabilities and organisations for the disabled, State authorities, expert institutions and social partners.
