On Thursday, February 9, Minister of Health Līga MenĆelsone and Minister of Education and Science Anda Čakša agreed on the improvement of health literacy in educational programs.
The Minister of Health Līga Menľelsone acknowledged that attention should be paid to health literacy and the personal responsibility of each person for their own health should be encouraged. It is also necessary to create awareness in society about healthy habits and their impact on human health and quality of life in the long term.
“Only with public education events (campaigns) it is not possible to achieve the formation of healthy lifestyle habits for children and young people, therefore along with the wider inclusion of health education issues in the education process, the necessary knowledge and skills will be provided to students in a targeted and continuous manner,” said L.MenĆĆelsone.
During the meeting, the ministers acknowledged that, although the cooperation of experts from the health and education and science sectors is considered good, it should be intensified and better coordinated. Therefore, a Council for a Healthy and Educated Society will be established, under the supervision of experts from both sectors, who would develop educational materials based on science and data for students and their parents, as well as methodological materials for educators.
The work is planned to be organized in several thematic working groups in the field of youth sports and interest education, healthy nutrition, sexual and reproductive as well as mental health, violence recognition and prevention of addictions, as well as others, involving the responsible institutions, municipalities, industry experts.
