Slovakia

To celebrate World Health Day, the WHO Country Office in Slovakia is organizing two events on 16 April. A joint press conference will be held together with the Ministry of Health, Bratislava City Hall and the SOCIA Foundation  – a major NGO that supports a wide range of services for elderly people in the community.  A public awareness event will offer a social programme to promote active ageing, with a special focus on cultural activities. The joint programme for seniors and children will emphasize the need for intergenerational solidarity. The event will include an exhibition of posters presenting the theme "Ageing is everyone's business".

Activities to promote the objectives and message of this year's World Health Day will take place throughout the year in collaboration with various national and international partners:

  • Ladybird helping – a fundraising campaign  will aim to support community services for seniors.
  • Each year, to commemorate the founding of the League of Mental Health in Slovakia on World Health Day 2003, the WHO Country Office in Slovakia grants an award to an organization deemed the most active and innovative mental health NGO in Slovakia. This year the celebration took place on 6 March and honoured the civic association Radost (Joy) for its outstanding community work with families of people with mental disorders.
  • 12 May: “Run for health” – a cross-country 10 km running race with a special category for seniors will be a side event of the 2012 Slovak-Moravian Cup. The event is  co-organized by the WHO Country Office. The winning senior man and woman will be awarded a prize (diploma, sport T-shirt with WHO logo, package of healthy food) . 
  • In the first week of October an annual conference on seniors is held, this year with the title "Active ageing – is there intergenerational solidarity?"  This will be the third annual conference on burning issues related to seniors. It will be attended by about 100 participants from state, municipal, academic and nongovernmental organizations, representatives from WHO, the European Union and/or international NGOs, who will exchange information on trends and programmes that could be of interest for Slovakia. The main objectives are to learn from each other about new legislation, success stories from the field, problems and pitfalls of arranging services on the municipal and community levels.  
  • On 14 October a press conference will be held to introduce and mobilize participation for the newly established Grandparents' Day. Informational leaflets will be distributed about the need to promote intergeneration solidarity and to help seniors live active and healthy lives as an equal part of society. The general public will be invited to participate in a walking trip of grandparents and grandchildren in the woods surrounding Bratislava.