My name is Hana Vrabcová, I live in Bratislava, the capital of the Slovak Republic.
I have lived with obesity since childhood, which has affected me throughout my life. Not only in choosing a profession (I studied pharmacy and later law), but also in relation to family and employment.
I wanted to find out how to change my lifestyle and help myself and people living with obesity. That’s why, after certifications in pharmacy, I started to educate myself in nutrition, physical activity and changing habits and psychology. I completed counseling courses in weight reduction abroad, I am a NW and Pilates instructor.
In 2019, I was nominated by the Obesitology Section of the Slovak Diabetes Society as an ambassador to the EASO Patient Council for the Slovak Republic.
My effort is to transfer all the information and knowledge from ECPO EASO membership to Slovakia and thus help our patients. Obesity is still not recognized as a disease in Slovakia, and doctors only treat its consequences.
In 2020, we founded the civil association Slovak Coalition of Obese and Overweight People (SKLON). Its goal is to raise the awareness of our citizens about prevention, health education and education in obesity. For WOD 2020, we published a professional publication on obesity by the authors D. Durrer and Y. Schutz entitled Obesity Care for physicians and internists.
We have created our own “Path to Health and Prevention of Obesity”, which consists of our regular WOD and Stigma Day activities, focus on Movement and physical activity, education in the Health Academy, meetings with patients in the SKLONclub and cooperation with the Media and against Stigma . More at www.sklon.sk.
In 2020, I was appointed by the Minister of Health to the supporting Working Group Prevention of Endocrinological and Metabolic Diseases as part of the EU and Slovak Republic project: Creation of new and innovative procedures for prevention and their introduction into medical practice (PpVP).
I am the co-author of the first “Standard preventive procedure for the management of adults with overweight and obesity with a focus on counseling care”. It is effective from November 15, 2022 and published in the Journal of the Ministry of Health of the Slovak Republic.
I know that these are not easy tasks, but together we can do a lot and help all patients and people living with obesity.
I am a member of a health care organization, and since we are pharmacists as a helping profession, my goal is to help our patients and people with overweight and obesity to improve their health. At the same time, I want to raise the ‘awareness’ of Slovak citizens about prevention, health education and enlightenment in the treatment of obesity through social media and health advisory centers.
I want to help create an infrastructure of comprehensive care for patients with obesity, which is missing in Slovakia and to promote the construction of an infrastructure that will support a healthy lifestyle.
I know that these are not easy tasks, but together we can do a lot and help all patients and people living with obesity.