KHSMSK

Conference Silesian days of preventive medicine

The traditional conference with an international participation was held on March 20-22, 2019 by the Regional Public Health Authority of the Moravian-Silesian Region in cooperation with the University Hospital in Ostrava. The conference, which was held this year for the nineteenth time, was included in the system of lifelong education in the health service and took place again in the Mountain Hotel Sepetná in Ostravice. The patronage was taken over by the Chief Hygienist of the Czech Republic, governor of the Moravian-Silesian Region and the Czech Medical Chamber.

During the opening ceremony, MUDr. Helena Šebáková, Director of the Regional Public Health Authority of the Moravian-Silesian Region, based in Ostrava („RPHA-MSR“), welcomed Minister of Health Mgr. et Mgr. Adam Vojtěch, who expressed a positive attitude to the implementation of the Health 2020 Action Plans, outlined the strategic framework of the Ministry of Health for 2020-2030 and the intention to create a National Health Information Portal, which would significantly contribute to increasing citizens' health literacy. The Minister also appreciated the work of the hygiene service and expressed his support for maintaining their competence. The invitation was also accepted by Deputy Minister of Health MUDr. Alena Šteflová, Ph.D., MPH, Head of Cabinet of the Minister of Health Mgr. Petr Jarema, Chief Hygienist of Slovakia Mgr. RNDr. MUDr. Ján Mikas, Ph.D., MPH, deputy chief hygienist of Poland dr. Grzegorz Hudzik, Director of the State Health Institute Prague MUDr. Pavel Březovský, MBA and other important personalities.

The first conference day focused on the Health 2020 Strategy, dedicated to individual action plans and their implementation in the Czech Republic. The introductory lecture was held by MUDr. Alena Šteflová, Ph.D., MPH, who provided information on current indicators of the health status of the Czech population, on revitalizing the Health 2020 Strategy. MUDr. Helena Kazmarová (SHI Prague) focused on reducing health risks in the living and working environment. Then followed an important and serious issue of managing infectious diseases. The block was closed by MUDr. Helena Šebáková, who documented the active involvement of the hygiene service in the Health 2020 at the regional level. Such activities include, for example, support for healthy nutrition and physical activity through educational projects for nursery and primary school children, educational events for various groups of healthcare workers, catering services, body care facilities, lectures on healthy nutrition for seniors. Every year RPHA-MSR publishes a yearbook and a newsletter about its activities, which serve as a basis for the development of health policy in the region.

Among the main topics of this three-day conference were included also infectious epidemiology (utilization of molecular biological methods for detection of listeriosis epidemics, antimicrobial resistance, treatment of patients with hepatitis C, mycobacterial diseases), drinking water (drinking water supply crisis, monitoring of water quality in marine storage tanks), health and environment (exploring the influence of different levels of air pollution on gene and epigenetic changes in newborns, procedures for rehabilitation of Ostrava lagoons and their impact on air quality), working environment, food safety, technical possibilities of unethical methods used by university students for oral and written exams, HIV / AIDS and the importance of body language.

A very important part of the conference was traditionally a poster section. The authors provided interesting information on the results of research and studies in the field of infectious epidemiology, including professional infections among healthcare workers, on the incidence of cardiovascular and respiratory diseases in Ostrava, on strategic noise maps and occupational noise exposure, occupational diseases in Moravian-Silesian Region („MSR“), dangerous products and preventive programs for children in MSR.

The 19th year of the conference was again a great interest. The number of participants reached over 260, 50 lectures and 20 posters took place. There have been some serious current themes from a wide range of experts from different areas. This multidisciplinary approach has traditionally led to rich debates and conclusions. The pleasant atmosphere of the mountain hotel Sepetná, the possibility of using the wellness center and the ABBA style evening led to the welfare of all those involved. We thank everyone for their goodwill every year and look forward to next meeting.