Talking Point | All stories

At the beginning of the year, the majority of the Czech ambulatory services, some 22,000 health care professionals, closed their doors to patients and customers for an hour, to protest against the government's failure to meet their demands during its reform of the health care sector. The Czech Coalition of Ambulatory Physicians and the Union of Health Insurance Companies say since their protest act, neither the government, nor Health Minister Marie Souckova, have taken steps to consider the needs of the ambulatory services and health insurance

Since January 2003, authorities have been running a programme to attract skilled foreign workers to the Czech Republic as the country's population ages and Czechs go abroad to work. The scheme is still in the trial stages, open to applicants from just three countries - Bulgaria, Croatia, and Kazakhstan. Under the programme, potential immigrants are given fast-track access to residence permits, allowing them to settle permanently in this country after just two and a half years - instead of the usual ten.

Unlike last year, when massive consumer spending allowed shops and stores to enjoy record sales, Czechs do not expect to continue with their shopping sprees in 2004. A drastic value added tax increase that came into effect on January 1, 2004, has forced them to dig deep into their wallets and think twice before spending another crown. The VAT was raised from 5 percent to 22 percent on numerous goods and all services including the post office, telecommunications, the Internet, hair dressers, plumbers, lawyers, accountants,...the list goes on. Economist

After the Soviet armed forces liberated most of Czechoslovakia from the Nazis in 1944 and 1945, the Soviet Union started slowly but surely to assert its influence in the country. Post-war Czechoslovakia was still a country with democratic institutions and free elections. The end of democracy was to come in 1948 when the communists took over, but the first signs of what was to come appeared much earlier...

Shortly before the end of the Second World War, despite staring defeat in the face, Nazi leaders tried to salvage what was left of their crumbling empire. In the last months of the war, some of the Third Reich's secret archives were hurriedly transported from Berlin to the Nazi Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia, an area believed to be safe from US bombing. Although some of the hidden material was recovered after the war, there are still many people who believe that valuable treasure may still lie buried in Central Bohemia...

Some of you may recall a Radio Prague report earlier this month on a joint initiative by cultural institutes to point to suitable ways in which the Czech Republic's deconsecrated church property could be used. Most of this property is on the country's list of heritage sites, containing monuments, buildings and art that are of great value but in dire need of repair. In this week's Talking Point, Dita Asiedu speaks with Dr. Josef Stulc from the National Institute for Heritage Preservation:

A decade ago, back in 1993, a new model of social work called "streetwork" was introduced to the Czech Republic. The idea is to move the act of social assistance from the office desk to the clients themselves - to the street, so to speak. Streetwork began to develop both in the governmental and non-governmental sphere. At first the two sectors did not cooperate much and there was even a certain level of rivalry between them. In today's Talking Point we look at one project of social streetwork where the state and NGOs work in harmony.

At the end of October, there were 625 registered cases of HIV infection on record, of which 175 were cases of full-blown AIDS. These, of course, are just the registered cases and the actual number could be ten times higher. But even then would the country be considered one with a low-level incidence of HIV. Nevertheless, experts warn that statistics could shoot up to unexpected levels.

The Czech Republic has a rich tradition of winter sports, thanks to its climate and also a ring of mountain ranges that surround the whole country and provide plentiful skiing opportunities. Generations of Czechs took compulsory skiing courses at primary and secondary school, and also at university. With the ski season just beginning, I paid a visit to a ski gear shop in Prague and enquired about where exactly people go skiing these days.

The largest ever Canadian delegation visited Prague last Friday, making their way through all ten countries set to join the European Union next year. A group of Senior level officials representing various departments came to forge new relations and intensify dialogue with the Czech Republic. With the country's imminent EU accession, Canada will look at the Czech Republic with new eyes. Not only is the EU Canada's second largest trading partner but Canada is also close to Europe in many of its cultural and social values. Canada straddles the Atlantic