Debrecen4U
September 10, 2025
An exemplary project was implemented in Debrecen, which could even be a national model project
Péter Takács, State Secretary for Health, accompanied by Diána Széles, Deputy Mayor of Debrecen responsible for care policy, visited the “Move, Debrecen!” initiative’s health development center at 11 Szent Anna Street on September 9, 2025.
The guests were informed by Csaba Papp, Director of the Debrecen Primary Care and Health Development Institute (Daefi), about the activities taking place at the health development center, and they were also able to see the programs currently taking place.
As Péter Takács said on site after getting to know the center, he was very happy to finally be able to visit it, because he had already heard a lot from Deputy Mayor Diána Széles about how Debrecen works as a caring city and how the “Move, Debrecen!” initiative operates, and Csaba Papp, Director of Daefi, had already introduced him to the work here in the framework of a professional proposal. However, gaining personal experience can provide the most complete picture. Péter Takács emphasized that an exemplary project had been implemented in Debrecen, which could even be a national model project, since here they can offer the city’s residents, from the youngest to the retired age group, a comprehensive, primary care, and prevention-oriented health development package. In his opinion, it is very important to note that the healthcare of the 21st century must be based on this, that is, primary care and prevention. As he said, “The kind of hospital-centricity that we bring with us from the socialist-type healthcare must be let go, and more and more competences must be transferred to the general practitioner level, and where appropriate, to the level of health development offices, since the goal is to improve public health indicators, increase life expectancy, and increase the number of years spent in health.” Péter Takács highlighted, “Since we have had civil government in our country, these indicators have been increasing—gratifyingly—at a greater rate than the European Union average, so the trend is good. However, a program such as the one implemented here in Debrecen based on the deputy mayor’s idea could achieve even better results in our country if it were adopted nationwide.”
According to Diána Széles, the cornerstone of the Caring City program is the “Move, Debrecen!” initiative. During the conversation with the State Secretary of Health at the Szent Anna Street Health Development Center, the problems that were revealed during the school health screenings of recent years were also discussed. They discussed how children’s physical education classes could be improved and how well the experiences of Debrecen school health program and the “Move, Debrecen!” initiative’s school program can be utilized. Diána Széles explained how important it is to have data on every child in Debrecen based on the school health screenings. These tools help determine which children may need a bit more physical activity for their health or possibly require specialized medical care, which can be provided through the Clinical Center of the University of Debrecen. The data from the annual health screening of more than 13,000 children in Debrecen shows that approximately 20 percent of them struggle with body image disorders—4percent are pathologically thin and 16 percent are overweight. Among other things, the “Move, Debrecen!” initiative school program was launched to reduce this rate, within the framework of which nearly 1,500 children are currently exercising outside of physical education classes in a total of 41 primary schools every week. The very important message and goal of the Debrecen Caring City program is that children live healthy lives.
Source and photro credit:debrecen.hu
