Slovenia will host the second preparatory meeting for the 3rd Ministers of Health Forum

With an official letter, Minister of Health of Slovenia, Mr Marusic, expressed the willingness of Slovenia to host the second preparatory meeting for the Forum. This preparatory meeting will take place during 14-15 April 2011 (venue to be confirmed). The representative of Slovenia at the Forum Organizational Committee was appointed Ms Dunja Gruntar Golanda.

Ms Snezana Cicevalieva, Chair of the SEEHN Executive Committee, thanked Minister Marusic, in a letter sent today, for the long term support and cooperation that the Ministry of Health of Slovenia has extended to the SEEHN for the regional cooperation in public health in the SEE.

You can read or download the letter of Minister Marusic by clicking here.

You can read or download the letter of Ms Cicevalieva by clicking here.

Best Wishes for A Happy Holiday Season!!!

Organizational Committee of the 3rd SEE Ministers of Health Forum

The SEEHN Executive Committee Chair, Ms Snezana Cicevalieva sent a message today to the National Health Coordinators of member and partner countries and organizations on the Organizational Committee of the 3rd SEE Ministers of Health Forum "Health in All Policies in the SEE: A Shared Goal and Responsibility", to take place in Banja Luka on 13-14 October 2011.

You can read or download the letter of Ms Cicevalieva here.

Also attached to the letter:
* the proposal for the organization of the 3rd SEE Ministers of Health Forum  (click here to read or download).
* the Terms of Reference of the Organizational Committee for the 3rd Ministers of Health Forum (click here to read or download).
* calendar of events for 2011 (click here to read or download).

Serbia nominates new National Health Coordinator to the SEEHN

The Minister of Health of Serbia, Prof Milosavljevic, notified the SEEHN Secretariat that Serbia has nominated a new National Health Coordinator to the SEE Health Network, Dr Nevena Karanovic, State Secretary of the Ministry of Health of Serbia, replacing Dr Elizabet Paunovic, who is now a Member of Parliament of Serbia.

The SEEHN Executive Committee would like to thank the Minister of Health of Serbia, Prof Milosavljevic, for his leadership and support to the SEEHN and welcome Dr Karanovic to the SEEHN and the regional cooperation in public health in the SEE.

You can read or download the letter of Prof Milosavljevic here.

You can read or download the letter of Ms Cicevalieva here.

Israel expresses its wish to become a member of SEE Health Network

The Ministry of Health of Israel has expressed its interest in becoming a member of the SEE Health Network. The information, authorized by the Director General of the Ministry of Health of Israel, was conveyed by Prof Alex Leventhal, Director of International Relations Department at the Ministry of Health. Prof Leventhal attended the recent 24th meeting of the SEE Health Network in Tirana, Albania, on 10-12 November 2010.

Israel Ministry of Health was the host of the 5th meeting of the SEE Country Managers of Public Health Services Project in Jerusalem, June 2010.

The interest expressed by Israel is welcomed by the SEEHN Executive Committee and Secretariat.

The SEE Health Network Executive Committee will provide guidance on next steps to membership to the SEEHN.

Inauguration of the RHDC on Human Organ and Tissue Transplantation

The inauguration of the new SEE Regional Health Development Center on Human Organ and Tissue Transplantation is scheduled for February 2011. The inauguration is expected to be attended by high level representatives from the SEE Ministries of Health, members of the SEE Health Network, as well as representatives from partner countries and organizations.

The exact time and venue will be forwarded as soon as available from the Ministry of Health of Croatia.

Final Draft Report of the 24th Meeting of SEEHN

The final draft report of the 24th meeting of the SEEHN was prepared by the SEEHN Secretariat based on the original notes taken by Dr Alex Berlin of the SEEHN Executive Committee.

During the 24th meeting, the SEEHN signed a historic Host Country Agreement for establishing a new and independent Secretariat in Skopje; agreed to organize the 3rd SEE Minster of Health Forum in Banja Luka on 13-14 Oct 2011 with topic "Health in All Policies in the SEE: A Shared Goal and Responsibility" and reviewed the efforts of the SEE countries in implementing the International Health Regulations. The meeting also reviewed the progress of the Regional Health Development Centers and their workplans for 2011.

For more details please read the final draft report on the meeting.

Please forward your comments and suggestions via email to seehnsec@gmail.com no later then Friday, 17 Dec 2011.

You can read or download a copy of this final draft report here.

You can also view or download a copy of the photo album from the meeting here.

Health professionals mobility in the Baltic Sea region and neighbouring countries - Sub-regional Policy Dialogue, Vilnius, Lithuania, 1- 2 December 2010

The Dialogue organized by The European Observatory on Health Systems and Policies, WHO/EURO and the Ministry of Health of the Republic of Lithuania, was attended by close to 50 participants from the countries of the Region (Estonia, Finland, Latvia, Lithuania and Poland) as well as experts from Germany, Hungary, Portugal and Spain, as well as international organizations. The participation of Matthias Wismar from the Observatory, Galina Perfilieva from WHO/EURO and Elisabeth Kidd from the European Commission are to be noted.

The SEEHN responding to an invitation from the organizers to the Chair of the Executive Committee, asked Dr. Alexandre Berlin, as Member of the Executive Committee to attend on behalf of the Executive Committee of the SEEHN.

The attached note related to the activities of the SEEHN in this area was prepared and distributed to the participants; Dr. Alexandre Berlin was invited to make a short introductory presentation and to participate in the Dialogue as an active observer.

A substantial part of the discussion was based on the research of the EU-funded

PROMeTHEUS project on health professional mobility (http://www.ehma.org/index.php?g=node/46) and the wider health workforce issues raised by the European Commission initiative.

The policy dialogue considered:

• the evidence on the scale of mobility of health professional in the light of the economic crisis (both source and destination countries);
• the implementation of the WHO Code of Practice on the ethical recruitment of health personnel;
• the mobility (and migration) issues in the general context of health workforce issues.

The meeting noted:

• a significant and growing mobility (and migration) of health workers with the economic crisis and this despite the lack of reliable and comprehensive data;
• the issue of mobility vs poaching was discussed as well as the need to establish more clearly criteria regarding ethical vs unethical recruitment;
• the need to make a very clear distinction between mobility (in the EU total freedom of movement) and migration;
• forecasting essential but to be based on solid data, lacking in general;
• need to define appropriate indicators;
• a number of policy issues are at stake : self-sufficiency, difference between mobility of health workers and mobility in general, coherence of policies (including for example the EU work-time Directive, the strong need for intersectoriality ( including finance, education and employment) (for example in Poland at the Ministry of Health there is a department of Social Dialogue)
• crisis to be used as an opportunity : reviewing the role of hospitals, home care, better retention measures, reduced fees for studies, etc.
• need for social research.

In one word political will is essential to tackle and resolve the growing and threating issue of the lack of manpower in the health field.

Attachments:

1. SEEHN feedback to the policy dialogue. To read or download, click here.

2. European Council conclusions on "Investing on Europe's health workforce of tomorrow: Scope for innovation and collaboration". To read or download click here.

Draft Proposal for the 3rd Ministers of Health Forum

The Third Ministers of Health Forum will take place in Banja Luka, Bosnia and Herzegovina, on 13-14 October 2011.

The proposal for the organization of the 3rd Forum was discussed by the SEE Health Network during its 24th meeting, held in Tirana on 10-12 November 2010.  

The latest draft of this document can be read or downloaded here.

Health professional mobility in the Baltic Sea region and neighboring countries

The SEEHN has been invited to attend, as an active observer, the
Sub-regional Policy Dialogue: Health professional mobility in the Baltic Sea
region and neighboring countries - Vilnius, Lithuania, 1-2 December 2010,
organized in particular by WHO/EURO, The European Observatory on Health Systems and Policies, and the Ministry of Health of the Republic of Lithuania. The SEEHN was represented by the Executive Committee member, Dr. Alexandre Berlin.

The presence of the SEEHN at the Dialogue, and the recall of the important
contribution which the SEEHN made to the European Commission's Green Paper
on the "European Workforce for Health", provided an insight to the
participants on the importance of mobility and migration issues of health
professional in the Region, and the similarities of concerns between SEE and
the Baltic States; this was very much appreciated.
The outcome of the Dialogue, can serve as a basis for further consideration
of this issue by the SEEHN and possibly by the Ministerial Forum in October
2010 in Banja Luka.

Third SEE Ministers of Health Forum

“Third Health Ministers Forum:Health in All Policies in South-eastern Europe: a Shared Goal and Responsibility”, Banja Luka , BIH, 13 - 14 October 2011.


Co-organized by the South-eastern Europe Health Network, the Council of Europe, the Council of Europe Development Bank, the European Commission and WHO Regional Office for Europe, and hosted by the Ministry of Civil Affairs and Ministries of Health of Bosnia and Herzegovina under the auspices of the Regional Cooperation Council. The purpose of the event is to agree on:

1. Evaluation of the SEE political process of cooperation in health since Skopje 2005 (Evaluation report);
2. The values, priority areas and actions for the future development and implementation of HiAP within the sub-regional context (Political Declaration);
3. An extended collaboration for public health reform in the region (Report of a study on evaluation of the Public Health Services in SEE and their performance indicators)

SEEHN ExeCom Chair message on Social Networks

Dear National Health Coordinators,

Dear Partners and Observers,

Following the developments after the 24^th meeting of the SEEHN in Tirana and the signing of the Host Agreement, the SEEHN Executive Committee and the Secretariat are working to establish a new and independent website for the Network. A proposal is developed and will be submitted for funding to enhance the communications ability of the SEEHN. This includes the development of a new and independent website.

In the meantime, the Secretariat has explored the opportunities that social networks - like Facebook, Twitter and BlogSpot – have to offer to the SEEHN in increasing its outreach and feedback from members, partners and others. The Secretariat has now opened its accounts on Twitter and Blogspot (twitter.com/seehnsec and seehnsec.blogspot.com). I am inviting you all to open your own accounts on Twitter and BlogSpot so that you can follow and contribute to the daily exchange of news and information, and in doing so, to increase the outreach of the SEEHN and provide valuable feedback on how to make things better,

With my best regards,

Ms Snezana Cicevalieva

Chair

Executive Committee

SEE Health Network

You can read or download the original document here.