The European Commissioner for Health and Animal Welfare is a member of the European Commission. The current Commissioner is Olivér Várhelyi. The portfolio is responsible for matters of public health and animal welfare.
Portfolio
Markos Kyprianou was appointed to the Barroso Commission as European Commissioner for Health & Consumer Protection; however, with the accession of Bulgaria on 1 January 2007, the Consumer Protect portfolio was split off and given to Meglena Kuneva (See: European Commissioner for Consumer Protection). The post's Directorate-General is still merged with that office.
One policy is the promotion of warnings on tobacco packets, with the Commission moving towards pictorial warnings. Following several European Union member states enacting bans on smoking in public places Kyprianou proposed a plan for an EU-wide ban of that kind.
In May 2007, Kyprianou released a paper to tackle the shortage of organ donation in the Union. The plan included promotion, specially trained medical staff and an EU wide organ donor card. After Kyprianou was appointed Foreign Minister of Cyprus, he was replaced by Androulla Vasiliou on 3 March 2008.