It's not good if politics starts dealing with health," is how Health Minister Izabela Leszczyna commented on Wednesday on reports of a change in the government's plans to introduce health education in schools. This was Leszczyna's first official statement on the topic, which the environment has been living with for several days.
Izabela Leszczyna: It is not good if politics begins to deal with health
Published Jan. 16, 2025 08:11
It all started with Sunday's statement by Deputy Prime Minister Władysław Kosiniak-Kamysz, who revealed that a decision had been made to make the subject optional, although the MEN and the MZ had announced for months that EZ and in primary and secondary schools would be a compulsory subject. In the following days, Rafał Trzaskowski, the KO candidate in the presidential elections, and Prime Minister Donald Tusk presented their positions - supporting such an approach.
The Health Minister spoke at the inauguration of the Year of Health Education and Prevention at a conference in the Senate on Wednesday, stressing that health education will definitely find its way into schools. - There is no better way to promote health, well-being, and preventive health care than to transfer the knowledge that the medical community and all those responsible for public health have to young people. I am all the more pleased that the year 2025 is also the year in which Education Minister Barbara Nowacka will introduce the subject of health education in September," said Izabela Leszczyna, although in recent weeks there have been many signals that the deadline may also be in question due to insufficient preparation of schools in terms of staff to take on the new task.
Leszczyna also referred to politicians' statements about EZ. - It's never a good thing when politics starts getting involved in health. But even if we face some difficulties, even if politics has joined health education, if only by small steps, but we will do what we planned with the Ministry of Education from the very beginning. Health education must become an immanent part of education in Polish schools, and this will happen," she said. Leszczyna also expressed hope that the subject will be so well run and attractive that children and young people will even gravitate to it.
The head of the health ministry assured that she had discussed the issue with Education Minister Barbara Nowacka. She did not mention, however, whether there had been a conversation with the prime minister, who on Tuesday unequivocally advocated "voluntarism" on the issue, though at the same time stressed that parents should "think twice" and get to know what content will actually be taught to students before making a negative decision on whether to allow their child to participate in health education lessons.
