Dutch presidency has seen a quiet revolution in public health

摘要

Dutch health minister Professor Els Borst-Eilers decided to become a doctor as a child while enduring the Nazi occupation of Amsterdam. A doctor, she thought, would be useful in the "next" war. Her background in medicine has proved to be more than useful. Last week in Luxembourg she chaired the European Union's Council of Health Ministers as part of a Dutch presidency that has witnessed a quiet revolution in the union's role in public health. Under her leadership work will now begin in areas such as health monitoring, surveillance of infectious diseases, and professional standards for migrating doctors.