Successful Presidency of Bosnia and Herzegovina of the SEE Health Network in the first half of 2016

News, News from the SEEHN Member States

On 30 June 2016 the Presidency of Bosnia and Hercegovina of the SEE Health Network was completed with a full and unprecedented success, its peak being the 37^th Plenary Meeting of the South-eastern Europe Health Network and High Level Pre-Forum Event “Health, Wellbeing and Prosperity in South East Europe in the framework of the UN Sustainable Development Goals 2030”, held on 28-29 JUne 2016 in Sarajevo.

This High Level Pre-Forum Meeting and 37^th Plenary of the SEE Health Network is the most important event that will lead the SEE Governments and health professionals to a successful Fourth SEE Health Ministerial Forum in November 2016 in Chisinau, the Republic of Moldova.

The 37^th Plenary Meeting of the South-eastern Europe Health Network and High Level Pre-Forum Event fulfilled its objective, e.g. conducted the first round of inter-country consultations on five important documents to be ready for the Ministers of Health at their forthcoming Fourth Ministerial Forum.

The 37^th Plenary Meeting of the South-eastern Europe Health Network and High Level Pre-Forum Event confirmed the strong commitment of all SEE governments to the extended sub-regional cooperation for introducing and/or strengthening the values, priority areas, and actions towards achieving better health, well-being and prosperity in the region in the framework of the UN SDGs.  In that respect, the first draft Chiasinau Pledge and the draft Framework towards developing the SEE Health Strategy 2030 in line with the UN Sustainable Development Goals 2030 were discussed and approved as an excellent starting point for the forthcoming multigovernmental consultation process in July – September 2016 prior to the Fourth Health Ministerial Forum.

Another strong decision of the 37th Plenary under the Presidency of Bosnia and Herzegovina was related to the revisions of the SEE Health Network Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) of 2008 and its Addendum of 2011, its STATUTES of 2004-2005,  and the development of full-scaled standard operational procedures (SOPs). All countries´ high level representatives stood firm behind the commitment not only to extend the regional collaboration but to go towards developing a new Memorandum of Understanding of 2016 for the Ministers of Health to approve in Chisinau and, thereafter,  to be endorsed by the SEE Health Network countries´ Governments and Parliaments, if required, so that the SEE Health Network becomes even stronger international organization with its own legacy and legal status.

Additionally, the participants of the 37th Plenary in Sarajevo approved with acclamations the two, so far developed, background documents that will serve as the evidence for the Ministers in Chisinau at their next Forum in November 2016. These are:

• draft study, to be published, on the regional collaboration for health and the SEE Health Network, and
• draft study on health, health systems and investments for health.

A third study on cross-border public health and SEE platform for emergencies is still in progress. These three studies and the forthcoming official publications will be serving as the solid evidence to back up the Chisinau Pledge, the Framework towards developing a SEE Health Strategy 2030 and the new SEEHN MoU with SOPs.

Last but not least:

• Memorandum of Understanding was signed with a new partner, Instituto Superiore di Sanità – URE (ISS), e.g. the National Institute of Public Health, Rome, Italy. The two partners will work together entirely in the area of emergency preparedness, response and management.

• A Decision on developing programs for reducing the excess salt intake in the countries of the region was also approved, based on a very successful multicounty workshop organized with the support of the EC TAIEX Instrument and held in Podgorica, Montenegro, April 2016.

The final report of the Presidency of Bosnia and Herzegovina and the Report of the 37th Plenary and High Level Pre-Forum Event will be posted by 20th July 2016 on the SEEHN Website.

HANS-JOACHIM SCHWAGER-PRIZE FOR CLINICAL ETHICS FOR 2016 GOES TO PROFESSOR SILVIYA ALEKSANDROVA-YANKULOVSKA FROM BULGARIA

News, News from the SEEHN Member States

          On 20-th of May at the opening ceremony of the 12-th International Conference on Clinical Ethics and Consultation the Hans-Joachim Schwager-Prize for Clinical Ethics for 2016 was presented to Prof. Silviya Aleksandrova-Yankulovska, Dean of the Faculty of Public Health at the Medical University of Pleven, Bulgaria.

The award carries the name of Professor Hans Joachim Schwager who was a pioneer in clinical ethics in Germany initiating ethics education for staff members and consultation rounds in early nineties in Bielefeld. The award aims at individuals or groups, who perform innovative or pioneer work in clinical ethics. As the implementation of a clinical ethics program often needs stamina and courage, the award is intended to encourage and support these initiatives.

The Board of Directors of the v. Bodelschwinghschen Stiftungen Bethel sponsor the Hans Joachim Schwager Award for Clinical Ethics and present the prize together with the International Conferences on Clinical Ethics and Consultation leadership. The Prize is presented to a scholar from Eastern Europe for first time which is a high recognition of Prof. Yankulovska’s work. She has been an active member of the European Clinical Ethics Network since its establishment closely studying European clinical ethics consultation practices and collaborating with all the leading European experts in the field.

The wining project is named “Application of adapted METAP methodology for clinical ethics consultation in Bulgaria” and took place in 6 clinical units in the country over the period May 2013 – December 2014. Applying the instruments of the methodology 69 ethics meetings with 286 participants were held altogether.

Professor Stella Reiter-Theil, President of the Jury, in her laudation of Prof. Silviya Yankulovska underlined: “The winning project does not only consist of the adaptation of concepts and tools to the Bulgarian situation. It also provides, after only a few years of practice, already rich data and cases from various clinical sites in Bulgaria illustrating the value of applying the METAP methodology to engage clinical staff in ethical case discussions. After this fulminant start it can be expected that clinical ethics support will continue to raise interest and obtain acceptance in the Bulgarian health care sector. We wish the winner and her wining project all the best for the future!”

• Hans Joachim Schwager Award for Clinical Ethics
• METAP – project presentation, Prof. Silviya Yankulovska
• Hans-Joachim Schwager-Prize for Clinical Ethics 2016