Press release, 29 November 2012
On 28 November 2012, Vydas Gedvilas, Speaker of the Seimas, met with Zsuzsanna Jakab, Regional Director of the World Health Organisation (WHO) Regional Office for Europe.
The Regional Director for Europe commended the improving public health indicators of Lithuania; however, she also took note of low physical activity of Lithuanian population, a rather wide gap between the rich and the poor, and the continuing problem posed by cardiovascular diseases.
The new WHO European health policy framework and strategy document called Health 2020 was the main focus of the meeting.
Prevention is one of the key elements of the policy framework. Zsuzsanna Jakab is convinced that prevention has regrettably been neglected in Europe for approximately ten years. But now, she believes, we are back to prevention.
“The WHO data shows that for every dollar invested in disease prevention, four dollars in health care costs are saved. These figures demonstrate the need for special attention to disease prevention”, Vydas Gedvilas said in response.
The Speaker of the Seimas acknowledged that the presentation of the Health 2020 policy at the conference to be held in Vilnius was very relevant for drafting a new government programme as the programme should include the most important decisions that would be adopted at the conference.
The meeting was attended by Dangutė Mikutienė, Chair of the Seimas Committee on Health Affairs, who stressed that changes in the health care sector do not occur instantaneously; they require adoption of necessary decisions, patience, cross-sector cooperation, good will and concerted efforts. The Chair of the Committee mentioned that the Seimas declared 2013 the Year of Health and Wellness. She also added that the movement for a healthy lifestyle in Lithuania started a few years ago; it is noteworthy, that political parties have established close contacts with non-governmental organisations and parliamentary parties have signed the Agreement on Promoting Healthy Lifestyles.
“We as politicians are charged with the task of proposing measures acceptable to our society and to every social layer to generate motivation. We will not achieve anything by force. If people are motivated, they are active; consequently, national economic questions are much easier to solve. A healthy society is the greatest asset of the state”, Dangutė Mikutienė said.
Zsuzsanna Jakab underlined the importance of the Parliament in the legislative process, namely in the adoption of decisions to curtail tobacco use and alcohol consumption. The guest was particularly pleased with the news that the Seimas Committee on Health Affairs the day before voted in favour of draft laws aimed at protecting the health of children and adolescents by restricting access to energy drinks to persons under the age of 18.
The meeting was also attended by Algirdas Butkevičius, the appointed Prime Minister, and Juozas Olekas, Member of the Seimas and the Lithuanian Social Democratic Party Political Group. The Regional Director for Europe emphasized the importance of the Cabinet in developing and implementing the health policy and expressed hope that cooperation between the WHO and the new Government and the Seimas would prove to be productive.
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