Invited by the Danish Presidency of the EU, Alain Berset takes part in the informal council of health ministers in Horsens. Switzerland and the other EFTA countries are invited, together with the candidate countries. The themes: eHealth for older people and the chronically ill, so that they remain independent for longer, personalised medicine and patients’ […]
Alain Berset opens the Geneva International Book and Press Fair, with Morocco as guest of honour. He pays tribute to its tradition of oral storytelling and its contemporary authors. He argues for special treatment of the book, a cultural good and not an interchangeable consumer good. The remarks are topical: fixed book prices have just […]
Alain Berset brings the Federal Council’s greetings to the Pro Senectute symposium on ageing well and solidarity between generations. He recalls the federal decree of 1929 on aid to destitute elderly people and the nearly quarter of a century it took to go from the constitutional article on OASI to the 1948 law. His formula, […]
Alain Berset opens the Schaffhausen Jazz Festival. Only his position allows him to be there, he says: as a musician, he would not have been booked. He mentions his “brief career as a bar pianist in South America”. He draws the parallel between jazz and politics: a craft learned by practice, the repertoire, and improvisation, […]
In Lugano, Alain Berset presents the prizes of the competition of the foundation “Schweizer Jugend forscht – Swiss Youth in Science”. Some 80 young people from fifteen cantons took part. He praises their art of asking questions, a lesson for politicians: “die schlimmsten Politiker diejenigen sind, die schon eine Antwort wissen, bevor sie überhaupt die […]
For World Red Cross Day, Alain Berset supports the Swiss Red Cross blood donation drive on the Bundesplatz, “as minister of health and as a citizen of this country”. He recalls that Switzerland needs around 1,250 donations a day to meet hospitals’ needs. “Those who give blood know that our society is much more than […]
On behalf of Switzerland, the host country, Alain Berset opens the 65th World Health Assembly. The general debate is on universal coverage: how to guarantee everyone fair and affordable access to essential care. The Assembly is also to reappoint Margaret Chan at the head of the WHO. On the sidelines, he discusses health reforms in […]
Alain Berset opens the “Europe meets Swiss eHealth” conference, held on the sidelines of the IHE Connectathon. He starts with a question to the audience: who has never booked a holiday or paid online? “The digital revolution does not stop at the doors of our health system.” He presents the eHealth Switzerland strategy adopted by […]
Three weeks before the vote, Alain Berset defends the managed care revision at the information evening of Argomed, a company that supports doctors’ networks. He says it from the outset: he will vote yes on 17 June, out of personal conviction as much as by virtue of his office. He explains the bill: freely formed […]
Alain Berset speaks at the 27th French-speaking Yodelling Festival in Plaffeien, which also marks the 75th anniversary of the French-speaking Yodellers’ Association. He refrains from greeting the audience with a “Jutz”: his abilities lie in politics, not in singing. He tells the story of the association’s founding, “typisch schweizerisch”: a quarrel with the German speakers, […]
During Art Basel, Alain Berset presents the Swiss Art Awards 2012: 20 works by artists, architects and mediators, each awarded 25,000 francs, selected from 660 submissions. For the first time, the competition is open with no age limit. He cites former winners John M Armleder, Roman Signer, Peter Fischli and David Weiss, and salutes “a […]
Alain Berset lays the foundation stone of the Confederation’s new administrative building in Liebefeld, which is to house 720 workplaces of the Federal Office of Public Health. Cost of the first phase: 98 million francs; entry into service planned for December 2014. He opens with a Russian proverb, “a wall is not made with a […]
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