STATUTES OF THE NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF PUBLIC HEALTH

Article 1

Preamble clauses

1. The National Institute of Public Health (hereinafter the Institute) was established by Article 86 of Act No 258/2000 as last amended as a healthcare facility.
2. The Institute is a contributory organization directly controlled by the Ministry of Health of the Czech Republic (hereinafter the Ministry). Based on the provision of the Minister of Health of December 17, 2002 under reference HEM – 300 – 18.12.02/35651 and the statement of the Minister of Health of December 17, 2002 under reference 31334/2002, the Institute is the successor of the state organizational component, the National Institute of Public Health, repealed by the date of the establishment of the Institute as a contributory organization.
3. Address of the Institute: Prague 10, Šrobárova 48/49, post code: 100 42
4. Identification number of the Institute: 75010330
5. The Institute is entitled to establish branches and outcentres.
6. The Institute is a functional and organizational economic unit that acts in all legal relations on its own behalf and responsibility.

Article 2

Mission, major tasks and other tasks of the Institute

1. The mission and major tasks of the Institute specified by Article 86, Paragraphs 2 and 3 of Act No 258/2000, on public health protection, as last amended, are as follows:

1.1 To prepare background information for national public health policy making and health protection and promotion;

1.2 To provide methodical and reference support in the field of public health protection;

1.3 To monitor and to study relationships between environmental conditions and health;

1.4 To participate in international cooperation;

1.5 To assure quality control of services provided in public health protection;

1.6 To provide postgraduate education in the medical disciplines of health protection and promotion and to promote community public health awareness;

1.7 To process data on population health relevant to prevention of the emergence and spread of infectious diseases, occupational health risks and other occupational health damage, human exposure to occupational and environmental pollutants and the epidemiology of drug addiction, with the aim of obtaining background information for national policy making and the monitoring of long-term trends in the incidence of infectious and other diseases of high prevalence;

1. Other tasks of the Institute specified by Article 86, Paragraph 4 of Act No258/2000 as last amended, are as follows:

2.1 To promote preventive medicine disciplines and research in these disciplines, and to create conditions for these activities;

2.2 To breed laboratory animals and to carry out experiments on animals;

2.3 To provide healthcare and counselling including diagnostic activities in the following disciplines: occupational medicine, toxicology, psychology, physiology, clinical microbiology, parasitology, immunology and allergology;

2.4 To take part in law making and harmonization with the EU legislation;

2.5 To take part in the creation of standards and databases for Czech National Standards relevant to health protection;

2.6 To develop standard methods and operating procedures in the field of public health protection;

2.7 To provide paid services, i.e. counselling and expert opinion in healthcare to be either covered by health insurance or charged for, testing and procedures on request of health insurance companies, external quality assessment of laboratory procedures, supply of diagnostic agents and performance of occupational medicine procedures;

2.8 To provide specialized and methodical support in the fields of public health protection and promotion as well as diagnosis, treatment and prevention of infectious diseases;

2.9 To assess occupational and environmental health risk factors and to present the necessary suggestions for job categorization, limit values not established by regulations, etc.;

2.10 To assess risks in the field of food safety and to communicate with the public when authorized by the Ministry of Health;

2.11 To investigate and to measure occupational and environmental factors, products (including human and animal testing) and biological specimens, and to carry out biological exposure tests for the purposes of monitoring population health indicators, occupational and environmental factors and those related to working and living conditions, to provide background information in health risk assessment and management for activities of the public health authorities as part of the integrated rescue system, and to take part in health protection and health promotion programmes;

2.12 To take part in the accreditation system and quality control; to ensure methodical and organizational procedures for laboratory authorization; to confer authorization when authorized by the Ministry of Health;

2.13 To take part in the management of certification and accreditation programmes for health care facilities including special healthcare facilities;

2.14 - vitiation
To ensure programmes on healthcare provision quality and to take part in these programmes, including implementation of the projects for quality promotion in public health as presented and adopted by the Ministry of Health of the Czech Republic in agreement with the national policy for quality promotion in the Czech Republic, related to standardization in healthcare and methods for assessment of provided healthcare efficiency;

2.15 - vitiation
To technologically ensure the administration of records related to quality programmes and communication between providers and users of quality programmes;

2.16 To monitor selected occupational and environmental factors;

2.17 To measure and to test subjects for fulfilment of the tasks set;

2.18 To prepare background information for public administration activities in the fields of genetically modified organisms, chemicals and chemical agents including biocides, air protection and waste management;

2.19 To assess plant protective agents in terms of human health protection;

2.20 To fulfil tasks emerging from the Verification Protocol of the Convention on the prohibition of the development, production and stockpiling of bacteriological (biological) and toxin weapons and on their destruction (Convention on biological weapons) for the field of public health;

2.21 To provide public library and information services in the field of public health and to take part in publishing activities;

2.22 To provide pregraduate and postgradute training in healthcare, preventive medicine and microbiology, with particular focus on evaluation of occupational and environmental health risks, health promotion, primary and secondary prevention of infectious, chronic and noncommunicable diseases and occupational healthcare;

2.23 To organize conferences and other expert meetings;

2.24 To cooperate in activities related to the operation and maintenance of public health information systems (e.g. Workplace Categorization, Acute Respiratory Diseases) and data evaluation;

2.25 To rate healthcare technologies from the point of view of public health protection;

1. In a state of military preparedness and emergencies in the Czech Republic, the Institute is a specialized healthcare centre directly controlled by the Ministry of Health of the Czech Republic. The Institute takes part in execution of tasks in the fields of hygiene, epidemiology, toxicology and microbiology to the benefit of the population of the Czech Republic.

Article 3

Management and organization of the Institute

1. The head of the Institute is the director who is appointed and removed by the Minister of Health of the Czech Republic on suggestion of the Chief Public Health Officer of the Czech Republic. The director is the statutory representative of the Institute with general authority.

1. In the director’s absence, an interim representative is appointed in writing by him/her to act on his/her behalf to the full extent of his/her rights and liabilities.

1. The director of the Institute may establish a counselling board for consideration of issues of managing the Institute.

1. The organizational structure of the Institute and management relationships and bonds are specified in detail by the director in the Organizational Rules of the National Institute of Public Health (hereinafter Organizational Rules). In the Organizational Rules, the director also specifies the establishment, change or abolition of the branches or outcenters of the Institute according to Article I, Paragraph5.

Article 4

Final clauses

1.  Changes and amendments to the Statutes can only be made with the agreement of the Ministry.

2.   These statutes shall come into force after being ratified by the Ministry.

Done at Prague

Date: November 11, 2003            Signature: Jaroslav Volf, MD, Ph.D.

Director of the Institute

Date: November 12, 2003 Signature: Marie Součková, MD

Minister of Health of the Czech Republic