Miklós Szócska
| Miklós Szócska | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Minister of State for Health | |
|
In office 2 June 2010 – 6 June 2014 |
|
| Minister |
Miklós Réthelyi Zoltán Balog |
| Preceded by |
Tamás Székely (Minister of Health) |
| Succeeded by | Gábor Zombor |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 1960 Budapest, Hungary |
| Children | 3 |
| Alma mater |
Semmelweis University Harvard University |
| Profession | physician |
Dr. Miklós Szócska (born 1960, Budapest) is a Hungarian medical doctor, academic and politician, former Minister of State for Health of Hungary, the Director of The Health Services Management Training Centre of the Semmelweis University and a nominated candidate by the Hungarian Government for the upcoming General-Director position of the WHO.
Dr. Szócska has strong and exceptional family heritage in public health. Both of his parents were paediatricians belonging to the medical generation fighting back tuberculosis (Morbus Hungaricus) in Hungary. Dr. Miklós Szócska graduated at the Semmelweis University (SU) of Medicine in 1989. He holds a Master of Public Administration degree from the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University (1998), and a Ph.D. from the Semmelweis University in the field of change management (2003).
His interest in the management of health services and organisations emerged in the late ‘80s-when he served as a student president elected from the opposition- before the Hungarian regime change. After his graduation at the Semmelweis University he and his colleagues initiated the creation of the Health Services Management Training Centre (HSMTC) those days a unique Institute, supported by the World Bank. Between 1992-1993 was member of the Supervisory Board - National Health Insurance Fund Administration elected by the Hungarian National Assembly. The Board was responsible for overseeing NHIFA, the single payer of the Hungarian health insurance system. The Training Centre was officially established in 1995, between 1995 and 2000 he served as the deputy director and in 2000 he was appointed to be the director of the Centre. HSMTC was the regional partner institute of the World Bank Institute for the Flagship program (with app. 1200 participants from 41 countries) focusing on health reforms, financing, AIDS and tuberculosis in Europe, Central Asia, Asia and Africa. These interactive training programs aimed at skill development for international participants to define their problems, plan relevant interventions and develop local ownership towards solutions.
Between 2010-2014 Dr. Szócska served a full electoral term as the Minister of State for Health of the Hungarian Government. Further to managing sustainability of health services in the challenging times of the world economic crisis, an evidence-based reform portfolio supported by a participatory, consultative change framework was implemented. He initiated and contributed to the introduction and implementation of a demanding set of public health regulations including full ban on smoking in all closed public places, the decrease of trans-fatty acids content of foodstuffs, introduction of HPV vaccination for adolescent girls, and the introduction of public health product tax (PHPT) on food and beverages with added salt and sugar content. PHPT proved to be an innovative tool to influence consumer and industry behaviour simultaneously, and generated invaluable resources during the deepest times of economic crisis. People consumed less added sugar and salt and companies improved their food production formulas. Revenues from PHPT were used to increase the salaries of nurses and doctors to slow down health workers’ emigration. In 2013 WHO awarded the government for the anti-smoking actions and Hungary jumped to the 11th place from the 27th on the Tobacco Scale Control Index.
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Wikipedia