Lithuania’s former health minister Vytenis Andriukaitis has been elected as the new European Commissioner for health and food safety and will take up his new post next month.
The appointment was part of the European Commission president Jean-Claude Juncker’s unveiling of his new European Commission who will aim to tackle the big political changes Europe is facing, including unemployment, investment and security.
Juncker said: “In the new European Commission, form follows function. We have to be open to change. We have to show that the Commission can change. What I present to you today is a political, dynamic and effective European Commission, geared to give Europe its new start.
Andriukaitis will work alongside the College of Commissioners to promote health and well being in all EU policy areas, curb harmful use of alcohol, create initiatives to address discrimination, upgrade defence of child health and withstand a strong, qualified pharma policy based on the public interest.
He will also be expected to stand up to corporate lobbies to ensure transparency when working with stakeholders and encouraged to speak out about the risks that the prospective EU and US trade and investment deal could pose to people’s health.
Speaking at the European Public Health Alliance (EPHA) 2014 annual conference recently Andriukaitis said: “Health is not a consequence of growth but also a condition for growth. Investments in public health increase productivity and boost job creation. Health should not only be seen as product of growth: health encourages growth.”