Screening and prevention programmes in the Czech Republic

The Czech Republic has established a range of preventive health care initiatives and has made substantial progress in reducing mortality from cancer and from cardiovascular disease. Yet, not all the outcomes linked to the prevention and early diagnosis programmes are reassuring – indeed the country faces a substantial epidemiological challenge in terms of increasing rates of smoking, obesity and alcohol abuse, even among children. There are also governance challenges. In particular, a biennial universal general health check is unlikely to offer value for money and not enough is known about adherence to guidelines for secondary prevention of stroke and heart attacks. A priority therefore is to develop the information infrastructure underpinning preventive health care. Where value for money cannot be demonstrated, consideration should be given to dropping programmes such as general health checks and redirecting this investment to other health care activities. At the same time, the low rates of uptake of interventions proven to reduce mortality – such as cancer screening – point to the need to widen access to professionals and the public and incentivise both to engage in preventive health care more actively.