About us
Slovak Public Health Association is a non-governmental organisation (civic association) established from the initiative of European Public Health Association (EUPHA) and Open Society Institute (OSI) in June 2003. In November 2003 SAVEZ became a member of the EUPHA and has its representatives in EUPHA Governing Council (2 representatives) and EUPHA International Scientific Committee (1 representative).
The mission of the Association is to support and promote preventive medicine and health protection for the inhabitants of Slovakia. The Association works on enhancement of interest and understanding in the field of public health via education, training and research. In the field of co-operation it promotes interdisciplinary and multisectorial approaches.
The objectives of the Association are:
- to establish a national multisectorial umbrella organisation with a horizontal approach in the field of public health, involving:
- linkage of existing activities
- development of a network of professionals and institutions
- promotion of interdisciplinary networking
- establishment of a platform for mutual exchange of knowledge and experience
- to develop links between public health professionals and the general population
- to form an authoritative body that can influence public health policy
- to develop co-operation with foreign organisations and institutions acting in the field of public health
SAVEZ milestones
...or few lines about the history
How did it start?
In September 2002 Slovakia together with other 18 countries was called to apply for the Open Society Institute (OSI) and European Public Health Association (EUPHA) "Project for the Support of Public Health Associations as Key Links between Government, the Scientific Community and the Population in Central and Eastern European Countries". Three organisations from Slovakia, namely Kosice Institute for Society and Health - KISH , Association of Healthy Cities of Slovakia - AZMS , Stop Smoking, NGO answered this call and sent their proposals. These three organisations were invited to Dresden, Germany in November 2002 and were asked to co-operate and prepare a presentation of a common project. In February 2003 the three organisations sent a common proposal to the EUPHA and in the middle of March 2003 they were informed that the Slovak proposal is one of the four proposals selected by the OSI/EUPHA.
What happend after the SAVEZ project was accepted?
After the project was approved a SAVEZ preparatory group started to work on SAVEZ articles. The articles ware accepted on June 17, 2003 and the SAVEZ was registered at the Ministry of Interior of Slovak Republic as a non-profit, non-governmental organisation (civic association) under the Slovak law No.83/1990.
After the "new baby was born to the family of public health associations" work on the SAVEZ image (logo, address cards, letter-head, etc.) started.
The 1 st General Assembly (GA) of SAVEZ took place on September 5, 2003 in Kosice. The main aims of the GA were the elections to the Controlling Bodies of the Association (Steering Committee, Control Committee, and Executive Director), as well as finalising the 1st SAVEZ workshop preparation.
SAVEZ is very thankful to Netherlands Public Health Federation (NPHF) that during its "first steps" the it played a very active role of the twinning partner and gave to the SAVEZ different kinds of support via continuous e-mail communication, exchange of material and advises. Finally, SAVEZ would like to express its gratitude to EUPHA and OSI for the opportunity for the Central and Eastern European countries to enter the international scene in the field of public health.