HHS Deputy Secretary Meets on Health Care Issues and Information Technology in Spain and Belgium

May 10, 2006 - The Honorable Alex M. Azar II, Deputy Secretary of the U.S. Health and Human Services (HHS), attended the European Union (EU) High-Level eHealth conference held from May 10 to 12, 2006 in Málaga, Spain hosted by the Honorable Elena Salgado, the Spanish Minister of Health and Consumer Affairs. The Deputy Secretary is a guest speaker at the EU Ministerial Round Table on eHealth in Málaga, and a co-chair of a panel on the challenges of global interoperability of eHealth systems with the Honorable Viviane Reding, Commissioner for Information Society and Media (DG InfoSoc) of the European Commission (EC).

Arriving in Brussels, Belgium, on May 11, 2006, Deputy Secretary Azar met with the U.S. Ambassador to the European Union, the Honorable C. Boyden Gray, and the U.S. Ambassador to Belgium Thomas Korologos, and participated with EU Commissioner for Health and Consumer Protections, Markos Kyprianou in the Joint EU-United States Conference on Diet, Physical Activity and Health. This Conference focuses on promoting healthy lifestyles, including balanced diets and exercise to prevent obesity, diabetes, and cardiovascular diseases. Deputy Secretary Azar will discuss U.S. initiatives to prevent chronic disease, obesity in particular.

Reaching out to the Belgian public, Deputy Secretary Azar also spoke about healthy habits to the students of St. John's International School in Brussels.

For more information:

• U.S., EU Organize Brussels Conference on Health, Physical Activity, Diet and Obesity (U.S. Department of State)
• Málaga: Address to European Health Ministers
• Málaga: Remarks on Interoperability
• Brussels: Remarks on Diet, Physical Activity and Health

Last revised: December 10, 2007