Mihály Kökény MD

Dr. Mihály Kökény (Hungary) is a medical doctor, specialist in internal medicine and cardiology.

In 1970s he was a practising physician at the National Institute of Cardiology and was engaged in scientific work, too, later he worked in civil service at various positions in state administration.

In the Ministry of Health, his responsibilities covered health system management and as Department Head at the Office of the Council of Ministers, he was in charge, among other duties, of elaborating the first ever Hungarian health promotion strategy.

In 1994, he was elected to the Hungarian Parliament and secured his seat on all of the subsequent elections. Doctor Kökény was parliamentary secretary of state at the Ministry of Welfare from 1994; from 1996 to 1998 he was Minister of Welfare. In the period 1998-2002, he was chairman of Parliament’s Health and Social Affairs Committee.

He served as state secretary and then as health minister again between 2002 and 2004. Later he was government commissioner for public health coordination. As of 30 May 2006 he is again chairman of the Health Committee of the Parliament. In the last 2 decades he was involved to many international health activities for WHO, European Commission, OECD and the World Bank as advisor, speaker etc. Currently he represents Hungary in the Executive Board of the World Health Organization.