Mission and Tasks of Government Pandemic Commission Greenlighted

Bratislava, July 15 (TASR) – At its regular session on Wednesday the Government approved a document drawn up on the initiative of the Health Ministry, stipulating the mission, tasks, rules for activities and organisational structure of the Government Pandemic Commission.

According to the ministry’s document, the commission is an inter-departmental steering and consulting government body set up to propose measures aimed at protecting lives and health and reducing the economic burden of the population in order to keep essential elements of the economy and public life functioning in the event of a pandemic. It approves a pandemic plan in the case of a pandemic affecting Slovakia.

The commission coordinates the activities of all ministries and other entities that have representatives on the commission within the conduct of anti-epidemiological measures. It acts in line with the recommendations of the World Health Organisation (WHO) and the European Commission (EC) and according to the epidemiological situation in Slovakia.

The commission is comprised of its chairman, who is the health minister, and other members. These are the ministers of the interior, defence, transport, agriculture, finance, economy, labour, foreign affairs, education, culture and investment and regional development. The commission also features the chairman of the State Material Reserves, regional governors, general directors of health-insurance companies, Slovakia’s chief hygienist, the chief expert in epidemiology, the chief expert in infectious diseases, the chairman of the Slovak Academy of Sciences and the director of the State Veterinary and Food Administration.