At the invitation of Prof. MUDr. Luboš Petruželka, CSc. (Head of the Oncology Clinic, 1st Faculty of Medicine, Charles University, University Hospital and General University Hospital in Prague) and Doc. MUDr. Jiří Votruba, Ph.D. (Head of the 1st Clinic of Tuberculosis and Respiratory Diseases, 1st Faculty of Medicine, Charles University and General University Hospital in Prague), experts from Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Croatia, Austria, Slovenia, and Serbia met in Prague on the occasion of the interdisciplinary oncology colloquium PragueONCO for the inaugural meeting of a newly established expert coalition of Central and Eastern European countries, provisionally named the CEE Harm Reduction Platform.
Prague, 29 January 2026 | At the meeting, participating experts reached a consensus recognising that Central and Eastern European countries, along with other nations worldwide, face shared health and epidemiological challenges related to the rising incidence and prevalence of non-communicable diseases. Sustainable healthcare financing requires a shift in the medical perspective from treating manifest diseases to lifelong prevention. Complete elimination of risk factors for non-communicable diseases is not always possible over an individual’s lifetime. An integral part of preventive strategies must include the concept of harm reduction addressing exposure to risk factors.
The most significant risk factors for cardiovascular, oncological, metabolic, and many other diseases include tobacco smoking, alcohol consumption, and obesity. Harm reduction strategies also apply to a range of other risks, such as unhealthy diets, physical inactivity, infections, exposure to UV and ionising radiation, and contact with chemicals and pesticides in the environment. Individual risk factors overlap and accumulate over a person’s lifetime. Therefore, the concept of harm reduction must be applied comprehensively, not only to select areas.
By establishing the CEE Harm Reduction Platform, the participating experts from Central and Eastern European countries declared their intention to create a strong alliance that, based on scientific evidence, will strengthen the recognition of harm reduction as a modern, realistic, and patient-centred approach to public health prevention. Membership in the alliance is also open to experts from other countries.
Source
Own report
