Health is central to people's lives. Health determines people's capacity to contribute to society, to fulfil their aspirations, to enjoy life. People want to know about health and journalists play a key role in informing them. This is why the EU Health Prize for Journalists aims to showcase and reward the best health journalism in the EU, so as to further stimulate awareness and generate debate.
I have the pleasure to announce and congratulate the winners of the EU Health Prize for Journalists 2011. Their remarkable articles have been selected from nearly 500 submitted by journalists from all 27 Member States.
The first prize is awarded to a team of two British journalists, Ben Hirschler and Kate Kelland, writing for 'Reuters', for their article showing why antimicrobial resistance matters – it is a matter of life or death when drugs cannot kill bacteria.
Hungarian journalist, Rita Makarész, is awarded the second prize for her article highlighting the benefits of exercise for people suffering from depression, which was published on the health portal www.orvostkeresek.hu.
The third prize is awarded to Slovenian journalist Mateja Grošelj, for her article published in the "Vecer Weekly", which tells the story of a woman who fought breast cancer and her experience of undergoing a pioneering breast reconstruction operation.
This year, I decided to award a special prize for the best article on smoking cessation. Smoking is the leading cause of avoidable illness in Europe, and cuts short the lives of hundreds of thousands of Europeans every year. This is why I am determined to ensure that Europeans are aware of what tobacco does to their lives. This new prize seeks to encourage debate on this issue.
This special prize is awarded to Monika Cetera from Poland for her hard-hitting article detailing an unpleasant but lesser known harmful effect of smoking – poor oral health, published on www.jaw.pl.
I would also like to congratulate the national finalists and to thank the National Juries, the EU jury, the European Commission's representations in the Member States and the Commission's translation service, who have all contributed to the success of this prize.
