Public health, prevention

Draft Public Health Act

The draft introduces a new full text of the Public Health Act to modernise the area and replace the PublicHealth Act in force since 1995. The aim of public health policy is to ensure the protection of human health, tocreate the conditions for an increase in life expectancy and healthy life expectancy, to prevent and reduceundesirable health impacts and to increase equity in the health status of the population and to achieve positivechanges in the health of the population. The updated Public Health Act is aimed at prevention.

It introduces the responsibility of all parties – the state, municipalities, organisations – and updates therequirements and restrictions to protect human health. The new Act puts more emphasis on prevention.Children are one of the most important target groups of the renewed Act. The draft lays down environmentaland catering requirements for kindergartens, schools and residential care facilities. For example, the role of thehead of school will be enhanced in creating an environment conducive to healthy eating. Minors are one of theimportant target groups of the draft Act. For example, the draft Act intends to ban the provision of sunbeds andtattooing services to minors, as it involves a number of health risks arising mainly from the colouring agentsused. It also bans tattooing of eyeballs, which poses a very high risk and a risk of lasting damage to health.The new regulation imposes restrictions on products and services that are directly dangerous to health.Restrictions are imposed on the use of toxic plants, animals, plant and animal products and hazardouschemicals to protect or improve health. The draft also updates the maximum levels of fines and periodicpenalty payments in the Public Health Act and in some lex specialis, so that they are sufficiently effective. Forexample, new levels of fines are foreseen for non-compliance with the requirements for cosmetic products,which should be sufficiently effective to avoid infringements. The substantial amendment also concerns anamendment to the Act on Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances and Precursors thereof, which willallow for a faster withdrawal from the market of new psychoactive substances which may pose a threat to thehealth of the population in the future.