Speaker: Professor Valentina Prevolnik Rupel, Minister of Health of the Republic of Slovenia
Bio: Professor Valentina Prevolnik Rupel, born in 1971 in Ljubljana, holds a PhD from the Faculty of Economics in Ljubljana; her thesis (2008) was entitled "The impact of quality of life on priority setting and the efficiency of resource allocation in healthcare".
In her career, she has worked as a researcher and scientific advisor at the Institute for Economic Research in Ljubljana (IER), where she focused on the fields of health and long-term care. She has been the Chair of the IER Scientific Council, a lecturer at the DOBA Faculty of Applied Business and Social Studies in Maribor, and a member of the Prime Minister's Strategic Council for Health. She has also worked as an advisor to the Minister of Health and counsellor to the Director-General of the Health Insurance Institute of Slovenia.
Her fields of expertise are health outcome measurement and the development of healthcare quality indicators and value-based care, while her broader remit includes healthcare financing and health insurance and health technology assessment. Before being appointed Minister of Health of the Republic of Slovenia on 13 October 2023, she held the position of the State Secretary at the Ministry of Health.
Abstract: Slovenia implements robust, evidence-based preventive health programmes that span all age groups and major disease areas. The country’s favourable maternal and child health indicators reflect a comprehensive continuum of preventive care, characterised by high uptake of antenatal screening, systematic newborn screening protocols, and sustained promotion of breastfeeding. This holistic, family-centred framework is further supported by structured school health examinations and targeted mental health services tailored to children, adolescents, and adults. Nationally organised cancer screening programmes (ZORA, DORA, SVIT) provide an additional layer of population-level prevention, demonstrably reducing cancer incidence and mortality and constituting a central component of lifelong preventive healthcare for families. Together, these integrated preventive strategies contribute to a resilient health system that supports long-term wellbeing and reduces the burden of disease across the population.
There will be tea/coffee and cakes served in the Atrium 1, 30 minutes prior to the lecture.
