Sofia 14 July 2022 – Head of SEEHN Secretariat Dr. Mira Jovanovski – Dasic met today with the Director of the Bulgarian Diplomatic Institute Tanya Mihaylova. The Ministry of Health of the Republic of Bulgaria helped organizing this meeting with the aim of assessing potential forms of cooperation between the two parties by linking health to diplomacy.
Dr. Jovanovski – Dasic used the opportunity to give an insight on the organizational structure and activities of the SEEHN and shared her views on the intention to finance with CEI, a health diplomacy course in Sofia. She clarified that the target group would be the Ministry of Health staff, with the opportunity of attendance by the representatives of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, for two participants per SEEHN Member State with the possibility of extending the invitation to partner countries, partners and other IOs.
Ms. Mihaylova thanked Dr. Jovanovski – Dasic for the interest expressed in having a brief training in health diplomacy in Sofia and gave a short overview of the work of the Institute. She explained that training so far was provided in fields such as regional issues and security, energy diplomacy, economic diplomacy, environment, public diplomacy, diplomatic protocol; but that health diplomacy is both an opportunity and a challenge and that the idea is interesting. The only potential setback in organizing such an event in October or November could be the lack of time, the availability of experts/lecturers and the eventual worsening of the epidemiological situation.
The interlocutors agreed to intensify communication on the subject with concrete steps to be taken as early as beginning of September.
