Congress report - European Health Forum Gastein

Opening Ceremony
Opening Ceremony
Words of Welcome
Herbert Haupt
Dear Mr. Leiner,
Dear Minister,
Ladies and Gentlemen,
It is a great pleasure for me to welcome you to the 4th European Health Forum for which the
Federal Ministry for Social Security and Generations has been a co-organiser for the second
consecutive year.
I am very pleased to see that so many prominent guests are attending this year's event.
I believe the fact that, this time, we are looking at the beautiful Gastein Valley from a
somehow different perspective will not have any adverse effects on the high quality of the
Forum we have been accustomed to. I would even go so far as to assume that this year's
venue will be of benefit to the further development of the European Health Forum.
A glance at the conference programme will convince you that, once again, the organisers
have done an excellent job.
The European Commission, the WHO Regional Office for Europe, the Government of the Land
of Salzburg, Austria's business community, leading international and national health
institutions, non-governmental organisations, and last but not least my Ministry have
contributed to the solid preparation of this year's themes, laying the foundation for
interesting debates.
It is very rewarding for me, and I reckon for you as well, to see how the European Health
Forum has developed in recent years. The theme chosen for this year's conference is
"Integrating Health across Policies".
This topic indeed deserves a more in-depth discussion. It is not surprising that the issue of
integrating health in all areas of policy is a major concern of all European health politicians.
We are well aware of the unpleasant fact that health policy decisions are often not taken by
health politicians but by those from the economic, agricultural, social, traffic, environmental,
and other sectors.
At this point I intentionally include the EU institutions, and in particular the European
Commission's Directorates-General and the Council. We are still lacking an institutional
participation and co-decision right for health politicians for issues relating to health policy
that are, however, discussed and decided by other ministerial councils.
A positive development of these institutions has been the integration of the areas of food
health and consumer protection under Commissioner Byrne, who, by the way, will participate
at this year's European Health Forum Gastein.
International Forum Gastein, Tauernplatz 1, A-5630 Bad Hofgastein
Tel.: +43 (6432) 7110-70, Fax: Ext. 71, e-mail: info@ehfg.org, website: www.ehfg.org
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