Czech voters head to the polls on 3-4 October with healthcare firmly on the agenda. At a pre-election debate hosted by the Association of Innovative Pharmaceutical Industry (AIFP) and the Czech Chamber of Commerce, experts and candidates agreed that the system is under strain and needs fixed urgently.<\/p>\n
Czech health spending has nearly doubled in a decade, and ageing and hospital-heavy care keep piling pressure on an already stretched system.<\/p>\n
According to Ale\u0161 Rod from the Centre for Economic and Market Analysis, \u201cit is absolutely essential to assess better what public health insurance funds are spent on, and to evaluate not only the price of treatment but also its benefits for patients and society as a whole.\u201d He also urged more data use, prevention and a shift to one-day, outpatient or home care.<\/p>\n
With 89% of public spending, business rejects higher labour charges. \u201cThere is really no room to further increase employers\u2019 contributions, because labour costs in the Czech Republic are among the highest in Europe,\u201d said Tom\u00e1\u0161 Prouza, Vice-President of the Czech Chamber of Commerce, adding that private resources.<\/p>\n
Push for efficiency<\/p>\n
Incumbent centre-right MHealth minister Vlastimil V\u00e1lek (TOP 09, EPP) promised a fully digitalised, de-bureaucratized system within four years, fewer acute beds, and a stronger focus on prevention.<\/p>\n
\u201cBy the end of the next electoral term, that is in four years, health care should and will be fully digitalised,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
His challenger, Adam Vojt\u011bch from the opposition ANO party (Patriots), who served as health minister from 2017 to 2020, argued for empowered, data-driven insurers.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe should have active health insurance companies that will work with data on efficiency and quality and, on that basis, contract care and discuss the structure,\u201d he said, calling for depoliticised governance.<\/p>\n
On accountability, V\u00e1lek insisted that the ministry must set rules so insurers can secure access and quality, cautioning that politicising healthcare and overturning predecessors\u2019 policies every four years \u201ccan never lead to progress.\u201d<\/p>\n
Access to medicines <\/p>\n
Both candidates backed moving suitable innovative treatments closer to patients. \u201cOne of the first steps of the new minister should be a revision of centre-based care and medicines,\u201d Vojt\u011bch said, arguing that many therapies are limited to specialised centres \u201cfor administrative reasons without professional justification\u201d and prescribing should shift more to GPs.<\/p>\n
V\u00e1lek pointed to ongoing steps to expand what GPs can prescribe and to move selected centre medicines to outpatient specialists. According to the current minister, the system should ensure that \u201cmoney follows the patient.\u201d \u201cThe trend is to move oncology patients out of centres much earlier,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
From the industry\u2019s vantage point, access remains uneven despite good timelines for market entry. \u201cIt is striking that a general practitioner in our country cannot prescribe modern medicines for diabetes or cardiovascular diseases, even though this is common practice abroad,\u201d said David Kol\u00e1\u0159, Director of AIFP. He noted that restrictive rules, the concentration of care in centres and regional disparities mean \u201cmodern treatment does not reach many patients,\u201d prolonging illness and costs.<\/p>\n
Prevention that finally pays off<\/p>\n
Prevention emerged as the most credible long-term relief for an ageing society. V\u00e1lek backs a \u201cbonus, not malus\u201d approach, pointing to expanded screening and higher prevention funds at insurers. \u201cLast year, for the first time after ten years, 150,000 more people came for screening,\u201d he said, while acknowledging weak vaccination rates and the need to counter misinformation.<\/p>\n
According to AIFP director Kol\u00e1\u0159, prevention is promised in almost every government programme, yet concrete action remains thin, and vaccination coverage is still too low.<\/p>\n
In his view, a stronger focus on public health and prevention would do the most to ease pressure on the system over time. He also argues that the next health minister faces a tough brief \u2013 Czech healthcare lacks both the courage for fundamental change and a clear direction, and unless that direction is set now, quality and access risk slipping in the years ahead.<\/p>\n
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