Zdravé fórum

Zdravé fórum (Healthy Forum) is a Czech civic association and online platform that emerged during the COVID-19 pandemic. It was founded as a petition initiative on 29 October 2020 by director and writer Jan Tománek, mathematician and entrepreneur Karel Janeček, and Dermacol director Věra Komárová. The petition called for civic responsibility and criticized government pandemic measures. The association was officially registered on 11 February 2021, with founding members Jan Tománek, lawyer Tomáš Nielsen, and choreographer and director Petr Zuska. Jan Tománek serves as chairman. The platform advocates for an immediate return of children to schools, targeted protection of at-risk groups, and the lifting of anti-epidemic measures. It positions itself as a counterbalance to government propaganda and aims to restore normal life. The petition gathered over 15,000 signatures by April 2021 and over 20,000 by November 2021, including hundreds of doctors, nurses, teachers, and entrepreneurs. Zdravé fórum has been repeatedly criticized by experts and fact-checkers for sharing misleading information and hoaxes, particularly regarding the COVID-19 pandemic. It received the anti-award Bludný balvan (Golden Raspberry for pseudoscience) in 2021 and 2022. The association has filed criminal complaints against government officials and engaged in legal disputes. According to Seznam Zprávy, by February 2022 it had received 3 million CZK in donations and spent 1.4 million CZK, with 1.2 million CZK paid to its two founders for services. The platform operates primarily online through its website zdraveforum.cz, which features a petition and information campaigns. It remains active as of 2025, with chairman Jan Tománek winning a defamation lawsuit against Forum 24 in March 2025.

Zdravé fórum originated from an online petition written on 29 October 2020 by director and writer Jan Tománek, mathematician and entrepreneur Karel Janeček, and Dermacol director Věra Komárová. The petition called for civic responsibility and was one of the first to critically oppose government measures during the COVID-19 pandemic. It demanded an immediate return of children to schools, targeted protection of at-risk groups, and the lifting of anti-epidemic measures. The initiative was formally registered as a civic association (spolek) on 11 February 2021. Founding members were Jan Tománek, lawyer Tomáš Nielsen, and choreographer and director Petr Zuska. Jan Tománek became chairman. In January 2021, Tománek presented the petition on Czech Television's program 'Máte slovo'. By April 2021, the petition had over 15,000 signatures. On 16 April 2021, MP Lubomír Volný proposed discussing the petition in the Chamber of Deputies; his proposal was supported by some independent legislators, members of the SPD parliamentary club, and Dana Balcarová from the Pirate Party. Throughout 2021, Zdravé fórum engaged in various activities. In March 2021, it filed a criminal complaint against unknown persons, naming Prime Minister Andrej Babiš, Health Minister Jan Blatný, and Interior Minister Jan Hamáček, for allegedly spreading false alarm about the number of SARS-CoV-2 infected, arguing among other things the unreliability of RT-PCR tests. In April 2021, the group supported Ivan Semecký, director of the Waldorf School in Semily, who allowed teaching without testing or masks and was subsequently dismissed. In May 2021, it filed a criminal complaint against Václav Hořejší for critical statements; the state attorney's office refused to deal with it. In June 2021, it sent a pre-suit demand to the director of a retirement home in Velké Hamry. In August 2021, it sent an appeal to 8,000 schools and filed a proposal to cancel an extraordinary measure. By 22 November 2021, the petition had 20,274 signatures, including 355 doctors, 309 nurses, 315 students, 1,214 educators, 456 entrepreneurs, 1,001 sole traders, and 564 pensioners. According to Seznam Zprávy, by 14 February 2022, Zdravé fórum had received 3 million CZK from donors and spent 1.4 million CZK, with 1.2 million CZK invoiced by founders Tomáš Nielsen (legal services) and Jan Tománek (graphic, advertising, text, and internet work) in regular monthly amounts of about 60,000 CZK. Zdravé fórum has been repeatedly criticized by experts and fact-checkers for sharing alleged half-truths and hoaxes, especially regarding the COVID-19 pandemic. In 2021, several leading members (Soňa Peková and Lukáš Pollert) received the collective anti-award Bludný balvan in the special category 'Bludný koviďák' from the Czech Skeptics Club Sisyfos. In 2022, Zdravé fórum and its branches received the golden Bludný balvan in the teams category for 2021 for 'enriching Public Health with cherry picking, data magic, and conspiracy theories'. The Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports objected to disinformation and manuals for parents published on the website in April 2021. The group Čeští elfové evaluated some claims from a video published on 31 March 2021 as completely or partially false. In March 2025, Jan Tománek won a lawsuit against Forum 24 at the appellate Municipal Court in Prague. Forum 24 had falsely written that he was an anti-vaxxer who rejoiced at the death of the daughter of a vaccination supporter, mayor Birke, who died of pulmonary embolism, and a spreader of lies responsible for the deaths of tens of thousands. Forum24 planned to appeal but eventually apologized and paid 25,000 CZK plus court costs of 121,805.50 CZK. Tománek donated the awarded money to a children's tourist group.

• Online petition written by Jan Tománek, Karel Janeček, and Věra Komárová

• Zdravé fórum registered as a civic association

• Jan Tománek presents petition on Czech Television's 'Máte slovo'

• Criminal complaint filed against government officials

• Petition reaches over 15,000 signatures

• MP Lubomír Volný proposes discussing petition in Chamber of Deputies

• Criminal complaint filed against Václav Hořejší

• Pre-suit demand sent to retirement home director

• Appeal sent to 8,000 schools; proposal to cancel extraordinary measure filed

• Petition reaches 20,274 signatures

• Financial report: 3 million CZK received, 1.4 million CZK spent

• Jan Tománek wins defamation lawsuit against Forum 24

Civic platform opposing government pandemic measures and advocating for normal life

• Online petition for return to normal life

  Petition demanding immediate return of children to schools, targeted protection of at-risk groups, and lifting of anti-epidemic measures.

• Information campaigns and manuals for parents

  Materials published on the website, criticized by the Ministry of Education for disinformation.

1. 1Zdravé fórum - Občanská platforma pro obnovení normálního životazdraveforum.cz
2. 2Zdravé fórum - Wikidatawikidata.org
3. 3Zdravé fórum - Wikipediacs.wikipedia.org