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07 September 2024 | Country Update
Government Council for Public Health
2.5. Intersectorality
To enhance cooperation between different public stakeholders in achieving specific health policy goals, Health 2030 tasks MZČR and its subsidiary bodies first and foremost with execution. Other national and regional authorities are also tasked with cooperating to achieve Health 2030’s objectives and to take it into account when preparing departmental or regional strategic documents.
MZČR works with the Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports (Ministerstvo školství, mládeže a tělovýchový, MŠMT) to raise awareness of health issues among school-aged children with educational campaigns to reduce health inequalities. SZÚ organizes preventive campaigns and programmes for schools promoting healthy nutrition and lifestyles. This is a long-term initiative, with higher focus devoted to schools in socially deprived areas. Additionally, the Ministry of Agriculture promotes the school programme “Fruit, vegetables, and milk to schools” to increase healthy diet, and SZÚ is tasked with evaluating the programme’s achievements. An interdepartmental committee at SZÚ has been dealing with iodine deficiency among the population since 1995 and includes experts from the health, agriculture and food production sectors. In 2004, WHO declared that iodine deficiency in Czechia had been successfully managed (though it is still monitored on a continuous basis). The Czech Agriculture and Food Inspection Authority, under the Ministry of Agriculture, is responsible for the supervision of safety, quality and labelling of foodstuffs. If harmful substances are detected, the Czech Agriculture and Food Inspection Authority is responsible for informing the public.
Occupational health and safety are explicitly stated in the Czech Labour Code. Employers must protect their employees from health risks and injuries in the workplace. Professions exposed to increased risk of health, damage or injuries are classified into several groups; those in the highest categories receive additional remuneration or holidays within a range set by the government, as defined in the code.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, the national response was led by MZČR (including the Chief Public Health Officer, who is also a Deputy Minister of Health), the COVID-19 Central Management Team (chaired by another Deputy Minister of Health) and the Central Crisis Staff. The Central Crisis Staff is a working body of the government responsible for crisis management chaired by the Minister of the Interior or the Minister of Defence; its chair submits recommendations to the Security Council of the State and, if necessary, directly to the government. The COVID-19 Central Management Team was originally established as an advisory entity to the government and was later re-established as MZČR’s advisory body, tasked with implementing most of the government’s COVID-19 plan. For details, see the Health System Response Monitor on Czechia (HSRM, 2022) and Sagan et al. (2021).
MZČR collaborates with MFČR on public health through excise taxes on alcohol and tobacco use, though excise tax increases are often driven by budgetary concerns. The tax on alcoholic beverages was most recently increased in 2020, included as part of a wider package to boost revenues (MFČR, 2019a). Tobacco taxes have increased every year since 2020 and will continue to increase through 2023, as approved in late 2020 (Act no. 609/2020 Coll.).
On 4 September 2024, the Czech Government approved the establishment of the Government Council for Public Health, which will focus on promoting healthy lifestyles (disease prevention, health risk and biological monitoring). As public health is not something that the Ministry of Health deals with alone, the council will be composed of relevant ministries, departments, and agencies; associated public health authorities; and professional bodies.
The Minister of Health will chair the council, the vice-chair will be the chief hygienist and the secretary will be the director of the Department of Public Health Protection of the Ministry of Health. Other members of the council will be the senior director of the Science, Research and Innovation Section of the Office of the Government of the Czech Republic, the director of the Radiation Protection and Crisis Management Section of the State Office for Nuclear Safety, the director of the State Health Institute, the chief hygienist of the Ministry of Defense, representatives of the Office of the Government, the Association of Regions of the Czech Republic, the Union cities and municipalities of the Czech Republic, the Chamber of Commerce of the Czech Republic, the Association of Industry and Transport of the Czech Republic, the Agency for Medical Research, as well as representatives of the academic environment and professional medical societies.