7. Health and Well-Being
Health and particularly also well-being are a central focus of the public policies in the Czech Republic, especially public health policies.
There is a Strategic framework for the development of health care in the Czech Republic until 2030, the National Mental Health Action Plan 2020-2030 and the National Suicide Prevention Action Plan 2020 - 2030.
According to the documents little attention is still paid to mental health issues among children and adolescents, both in terms of prevention and treatment, and suicides are still the second most commons reason for death by young people aged 15 - 24 years of age.
The state of Czech Young people is not the best in European comparison, especially in terms of risky behaviour and consumption of tobacco, alcohol, and drugs; it is rather on the opposite side. (See Chapter 7.1)
However, there are many systemic attempts at the state level to improve the situation, including the new Act on the protection of health from the harmful effects of addictive substances, which came into force in May 2017 and which strengthens the protection of children and juveniles.
New policy and tools were also introduced in 2016 in the field of Sport and improving physical activity of young Czechs. (See Chapter 7.3)
The public health policy is quite strong in the Czech Republic, and children and Young people are traditionally a dedicated focus group.
Also, the educational reforms are reflecting the needs, and there are many large-scale initiatives to bring a healthy lifestyle to schools including the issue of wellbeing. (See Chapter 7.4)
In the field of non-formal and informal education, there are initiatives on health issues as well, however without complex strategic plans on a national level.