Health of the state is the wellbeing of a man, consent in the society, purposefulness of the nation

Dear countrymen,

Distinguished deputies of the House of Representatives and members of the Council of the Republic,

Dear comrades,

This year has been declared the Year of Health in our country. Its real meaning should not be understood simplistically, exclusively through the prism of physical condition of man.

The underlying concept is that this is the Year of Health of man, family, the society and the entire state.

People’s health depends mainly on the quality of life, level of intellectual and spiritual development, on family comfort.

A society is healthy when it is not riven by disconnection, spite, enmity and moral degradation from the inside.

A state flourishes if there is wellbeing of its citizens, consent in the society, purposefulness of the whole nation.

Over the last decade and a half, we were trying to keep pace with the rapidly changing environment and world economy while defending our sovereignty after the disintegration of the Soviet Union. We were making up for what was missed and lost in the late 1980s – early 1990s. Our main objective was to fight the “chronic diseases” which could lead to a fatal outcome.

The sovereign Belarus has now become a reality. We have built a strong foundation which enables us to develop energetically and efficiently in all areas. The course of history has proved that we were doing everything right, and therefore have achieved much. According to the UN human development index, our country stands at the junction of the groups of countries with a medium and high level of development.

But it is impossible to ignore the fact that the world around us is changing. We cannot fall by the wayside in this development.

And it is important not just to be prepared to operate in a changing environment, not only to meet the requirements of the new time. We should do our utmost so that Belarus could leave the group of the catching up and join the group of the leading, while at the same time preserving the chosen and time-tested economic course, social security for our people.

It is time for us to stop orienting toward those lagging behind. Using sport terminology, I will put it this way: you should enter a competition first, and then compete for the leading position.

Belarus needs a qualitative breakthrough, a new quality of life .

Our main competitive advantage and the most important source of the country’s development today is our people.