SEEHN delivered Joint Statement on the Chisinau Pledge during 70th World Health Assembly in Geneva on 24 May 2017

News, News from the SEEHN Member States

During the 70^th World Health Assembly held in Geneva from 22 to 31 of May 2017, Mrs. Ruxanda Glavan, Minister of Health of Republic of Moldova in her capacity as President of the SEE Health Network, on behalf of 9 member states delivered a Joint statement on the Chisinau Pledge and defined commitments of the Network for interventions in the forthcoming period.nnThe full text of the Statement is available at: https://seehn.org/category/publications/jstatements/

SEEHN Partner: Centre for Regional Policy Research and Cooperation “Studiorum” signed the Chisinau Pledge

News, News from the SEEHN Member States

After successful completion of the SEEHN Fourth Ministerial Forum “Health, well-being and prosperity in South-Eastern Europe (SEE) by 2030 in the context of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development”, which concluded with signing and approval of the Chisinau Pledge, the SEEHN Secretariat continued its activities on organizing the signing by partners which did not attend the Forum.

In this framework, Centre for Regional Policy Research and Cooperation “Studiorum” expressed their commitment, through signing the Chisinau Pledge during a bilateral meeting, between Dr. Mira Jovanovski Dasic, Head of SEEHN Secretariat and Dr. Neda Milevska Kostova, Executive Director of CRPRC “Studiorum”, held on 11 of May 2017 in the premises of SEEHN Secretariat.

This meeting was also used for mutual exchange of information and discussion on possible areas of cooperation in the future. The willingness and readiness to develop and implement joint projects has been expressed and will be discussed in details, during the forthcoming meetings.

SEEHN Partner: South-East Europe Network on Workers’ Health (SEENWH) signed the Chisinau Pledge

News, News from the SEEHN Member States

The SEEHN Fourth Ministerial Forum “Health, well-being and prosperity in South-Eastern Europe (SEE) by 2030 in the context of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development” concluded with the signing and approval of the Chisinau Pledge.

In this framework, SEE Network on Workers’ Health (SEENWH), WHO Collaborating Center expressed their commitment, through signing the Chisinau Pledge during a bilateral meeting held on 09 of May 2017 in the premises of SEEHN Secretariat between Dr. Mira Jovanovski Dasic, Head of SEEHN Secretariat and Prof. Dr. Jovanka Karadžinska-Bislimovska, Coordinator of SEENWH.

This opportunity was used to discuss possible areas for cooperation for the future period.

In addition, upon the request of the SEEHN director, Dr. Dragan Miakoski from Institute of occupational health of the Republic of Macedonia (IOHRM) delivered his presentation prepared for the World Health Day on “Occupational diseases associated with depression”. The presentation included data from a research conducted among health workers in the Republic of Macedonia, which showed shortages at different levels.

World Health Day 2017

News, News from the SEEHN Member States

The prevalence of depression in the SEEHN is growing, relatively following the pulse of the rest of the countries in Europe, which register an increase of more than 18% between the year 2015 and 2015.

Depression affects people of all ages, from all walks of life and it impacts on people’s ability to carry out even the simplest everyday tasks, with sometimes devastating consequences for relationships with family and friends and the ability to earn a living.

At worst, depression can lead to suicide, now the second leading cause of death among 15-29-year olds.

It is difficult to get precise data on the number of people suffering from depression in the SEE Countries because the reporting of depression disorders is underestimated.

It is affirmative that the perception of depression in the SEE Countries is changing and  the knowledge that depression can be prevented and treated is creating better condition for undertaking measurements.

Today, on April 7th  the World Health Organization, marked the World Health Day with the campaign theme Depression, aiming to better inform the general population about depression: its causes and possible consequences, including suicide, and what help is or can be available for prevention and treatment.

On this occasion, many events have been organized within the SEEHN Member Countries. Among them, we would like to highlight the press conference that has been held at the premises of the World Health Organization in Sarajevo, with the participation of representatives of the Federal Ministry of Health, the Swiss Agency for Development, a representative of the University Clinical Center in Sarajevo, a representative of user associations Phoenix and the Acting Director of the Regional Health Development Center (RHDC) on Mental Health, Dr. Dunja Smitran.

Since 2011 activities related to Mental Health have been widely covered by the RHDC on MH in Sarajevo

VIDEO LINK:

https://www.facebook.com/WHOBIH/videos/444041119273138/

The Director of the SEEHN Secretariat, Dr. Mira Jovanovski Dasic, on April 6^th attended the expert meeting on the theme Depression and Mental Health, organized by the Institute for Occupational Health – WHO Collaborating Center in Skopje and Partner of the SEEHN, in line with the campaign of the World Health Organization (WHO) to emphasize the importance of talking about depression as a vital component of recovery.

Dr. Dasic, together with the WHO and other UN representatives, took part at the Celebration of the World Health Day organized by the Macedonian Doctors Association, supported by the Minister of Health of the RM, Mr. Nikola Todorov and the President of the Doctors Association, Dr. Goran Dimitrov.

Depression can be prevented and can be treated. A better understanding of depression will contribute to reducing the stigma attached to this condition and encourage people who are faced with the problem to seek professional help. The campaign slogan is: Depression: let’s talk.

https://youtu.be/Yv_dvG_2VLI

https://youtu.be/hrvptToJnE0

http://kanal5.com.mk/vesti_detail.asp?ID=121337

Official meeting – Dr. Mira Jovanovski Dasic, Head of the SEEHN Secretariat and Mr. Jovica Andovski, Deputy Minister of Health

News, News from the SEEHN Member States

On 27 March 2017 the new Head of the Secretariat of the South-Eastern Europe Health Network (SEEHN) Dr. Mira Jovanovski-Dasic met with the Deputy Minister of Health of the Republic of Macedonia Mr. Jovica Andovski.  This was the first official activity of Dr Jovanovski-Dasic in the capacity of the Head of the SEEHN Secretariat.

Deputy Minister Andovski pointed out that the Republic of Macedonia is fully committed to cooperation within the framework of the SEEHN as the key initiative for addressing health issues in the region.

Dr. Jovanovski-Dasic gave an insight into future plans for continuation of the successful collaboration and potentials for its further development. She also shared information about the 4^th South-Eastern Europe Health Ministerial Forum which will take place in 3-4 April 2017 in Chisinau, Moldova.

Mr. Andovski and Dr. Jovanovski-Dasic agreed that there are many challenges in this region, in the field of health at different levels: political, technical and administrative. SEEHN in the past 15 years has proved to have huge potentials to be a sustainable initiative of regional ownership. It is expected that SEEHN through the establishment of its own Secretariat will particularly highlight  these  possibilities .

The SEE Health Network determined to managing change in health systems related to key communicable diseases and mostly to Tuberculosis

News, News from the SEEHN Member States

The South-eastern Europe Health Network (SEEHN) joins the global efforts in managing changes of their health systems performance to end tuberculosis, particularly in the South Eastern European countries.

In the context of the World TB Day, celebrated on 24 March 2017, the SEEHN will have a meeting organized by WHO Regional Office for Europe on “Managing Change in Health System Related to Key Communicable Diseases”. This pre-Forum event will be held on 2 April 2017 in Chisinau, Republic of Moldova prior to the Fourth SEE Health Ministerial Forum “Health, well-being and prosperity in South-eastern Europe by 2030 in the context of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development”.

The event has the aim to stress the importance TB control and its decrease in the region. It is an excellent opportunity to discuss with the key stakeholders of the SEE countries the present approaches and strategies on how to improve the communicable disease response through health system strengthening. Health services financing, new model of services delivery and new approaches to strategic planning of the human resources are among critical elements of the systems that may be reformed. Sustainability and self-reliance are the key focuses in the coming years.

The scope and purpose and programme of this very important event.

The WHO Europe TB profiles are specific for each country. They vary throughout the SEE countries. Detailed information might be downloaded following the links:

Albania:

https://extranet.who.int/sree/Reports?op=Replet&name=%2FWHO_HQ_Reports%2FG2%2FPROD%2FEXT%2FTBCountryProfile&ISO2=AL&LAN=EN&outtype=html

Bosnia and Herzegovina:

https://extranet.who.int/sree/Reports?op=Replet&name=%2FWHO_HQ_Reports%2FG2%2FPROD%2FEXT%2FTBCountryProfile&ISO2=BA&LAN=EN&outtype=html

Bulgaria:

https://extranet.who.int/sree/Reports?op=Replet&name=%2FWHO_HQ_Reports%2FG2%2FPROD%2FEXT%2FTBCountryProfile&ISO2=BG&LAN=EN&outtype=html

Croatia:

https://extranet.who.int/sree/Reports?op=Replet&name=%2FWHO_HQ_Reports%2FG2%2FPROD%2FEXT%2FTBCountryProfile&ISO2=HR&LAN=EN&outtype=html

Israel:

https://extranet.who.int/sree/Reports?op=Replet&name=%2FWHO_HQ_Reports%2FG2%2FPROD%2FEXT%2FTBCountryProfile&ISO2=IL&LAN=EN&outtype=html

FYROM:

https://extranet.who.int/sree/Reports?op=Replet&name=%2FWHO_HQ_Reports%2FG2%2FPROD%2FEXT%2FTBCountryProfile&ISO2=MK&LAN=EN&outtype=html

Republic of Moldova:

https://extranet.who.int/sree/Reports?op=Replet&name=%2FWHO_HQ_Reports%2FG2%2FPROD%2FEXT%2FTBCountryProfile&ISO2=MD&LAN=EN&outtype=html

Montenegro:

https://extranet.who.int/sree/Reports?op=Replet&name=%2FWHO_HQ_Reports%2FG2%2FPROD%2FEXT%2FTBCountryProfile&ISO2=ME&LAN=EN&outtype=html

Romania:

https://extranet.who.int/sree/Reports?op=Replet&name=%2FWHO_HQ_Reports%2FG2%2FPROD%2FEXT%2FTBCountryProfile&ISO2=RO&LAN=EN&outtype=html

Serbia:

https://extranet.who.int/sree/Reports?op=Replet&name=%2FWHO_HQ_Reports%2FG2%2FPROD%2FEXT%2FTBCountryProfile&ISO2=RS&LAN=EN&outtype=html

Fourth SEE Health Ministerial Forum in Chisinau, the Republic of Moldova – 03 and 04 April 2017

News, News from the SEEHN Member States

On 03 and 04 April 2017 the ministers of the nine countries members of the SEE Health Network will gather at their Fourth SEE Health Ministerial Forum in Chisinau, the Republic of Moldova. The Forum is co-organized by H.E: Ms. Ruxanda Glavan, President of the SEEHN, Minister of Health, Republic of Moldova and Dr. Zsuzsanna Jakab, Regional Director, WHO Regional Office for Europe. (more…)

38th Plenary and Second High Level Pre-Forum Meeting of the SEE Health Network

News, News from the SEEHN Member States

14-15 December 2016, Chisinau, Republic of Moldova

The SEE Health Network Presidency, Executive Committee and Secretariat will be convening the 38^th Plenary of the network on 14^th December 2016 in Chisinau, Republic of Moldova under the Presidency of the Moldavian Minister of Health, H.E. Ms. Ruxanda Glavan.

The 38^th Plenary will be attended by the SEE National Health Coordinators and the Directors of the SEE Regional Health Development Centers as well as by the partners. This important event is organized with the kind financial support of the Regional Cooperation Council (RCC).

Its main goal is to review the level of preparation for the Fourth Forum[i], to define possible challenges facing the Forum and to take important decisions to that end and, in particular, related to the approval and signing of the Forum´s outcome documents. More importantly even, the 38^th Plenary will assess the current state of the SEE Health Network and will brainstorm on and take practical decisions on its strengthening and better performance and visibility.

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In addition, the 38^th Plenary will also:

• Review and discuss the Moldavian Presidency Report for the second half of 2016;
• Review and discuss the Roadmap of the Bulgarian Presidency in the first half of 2017;
• Agree on a potential candidate for the post of the Head of the SEEHN Secretariat.

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

37th Plenary of the SEE Health Network and High Level Pre-Forum Meeting, 28-29 June 2016, Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina

News, News from the SEEHN Member States

The Presidency of Bosnia and Herzegovina of the SEE Health Network (SEEHN) (health authorities in Bosnia and Herzegovina shall be understood as Ministry of Civil Affairs of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Federal Ministry of Health, Ministry of Health and Social Welfare of Republic of Srpska and Department of Health and Other Services of Brcko District of Bosnia and Herzegovina), its Executive Committee and Secretariat are pleased to make this advanced announcement of the 37th Plenary of the SEEHN and High Level Pre-forum Event. 

The Event  is called by H.E. Mr. Adil Osmanovic, President of the SEEHN, Minister of Civil Affairs of Bosnia and Herzegovina and will be held on 28-29 June 2016 in Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina.

The 37^th Plenary of the SEEHN and High Level Pre-Forum Meeting 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 Fourth Health Ministerial Forum is the next cornerstone of the regional cooperation for public health and well-being in South East Europe and it aims to further direct the political and technical collaboration that would benefit from a closer partnership between the SEE countries, members of this network.

The focus of the Fourth Forum and, respectfully, of the 37^th Plenary Meeting of the SEEHN and High Level Pre-Forum Event  in Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina is “Health, Wellbeing and Prosperity in South East Europe in the framework of the UN Sustainable Development Goals 2030”.

The Forum and the 37^th Plenary of the SEEHN and High Level Pre-Forum Event  come after 15 years of regional cooperation in SEE (2001-2016).  The SEEHN will build on major European resolutions, charters and communications, treaties, frameworks and action plans. Included amongst these are the European policy framework for health, Health2020 and the SEE 2020 Strategy through which the SEEHN will continue to implement the values, priority areas and actions of these documents and will further implement joint sub-regional and national actions in the SEE region for achieving the UN Sustainable Development Goals 2030 (UN SDGs 2030) with the objective of better health, equity and accountability.

The 37^th Plenary Meeting of the SEEHN and High Level Pre-Forum Event will conduct the first round of inter-country consultations on five outcome and background political documents to be ready for Fourth SEE Health Ministerial Forum in Chisinau on 03-04 November 2016. The expected outcome of the 37^thPlenary Meeting of the SEEHN and High Level Pre-Forum Event will be to discuss and collect the opinions of all SEE governments on 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 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)  2030. It is also expected that a Memorandum of Understanding for partnership with Instituto Superiore di Sanità – URE (ISS), Rome, Italy will be signed.

• LIST OF WORKING AND BACKGROUND DOCUMENTS
• SCOPE AND PURPOSE
• PRELIMINARY AGENDA
• PRELIMINARY PROGRAMME
• INFORMATION CIRCULAR