Implementation of the Health 2020 Strategy by the World Health Organization, formation of a special group within the South-eastern Europe Health Network (SEEHN) in charge of organizing all network members in case of devastating disasters and better mobility and training of the doctors in these countries.

These are the three main points being discussed by the participants in an international conference of the SEEHN countries held in Skopje as part of Macedonia’s chairmanship with the network. The event, attended by many representatives of the 10 SEEHN member countries, was addressed by Health Minister Nikola Todorov and the WHO Regional Director for Europe, Zsuzsanna Jakab.

At a news conference after opening the event, Jakab thanked Minister Todorov for convening the meeting, calling it “an excellent opportunity to share experience related to this sector.”

“SEEHN is extremely crucial for health cooperation in Europe. The network’s significance is increasing, because it has an ambition to become an independent international entity and the WHO is truly committed to supporting its existence in the coming years. This network has achieved a lot by connecting the healthcare sector with sustainable development strategies and growth strategies in all member countries of the network,” Jakab stated.

She pinpointed three aspects set to be decided upon – ways to connect the health sector with sustainable development, ways to make progress and promote human resources, their improvement and ways to improve the preparedness of the countries in Europe to deal with situations involving outbreak of transmitted diseases.

“We are all aware of what has been and what is happening with Ebola in the past several months. Today is Ebola, tomorrow could be another infectious disease. Because of this we think it is necessary to improve the readiness of European countries in situations like this one,” Jakav stressed.

She thanked Todorov for organizing a simulation exercise at the Skopje airport on Macedonia’s readiness to tackle a possible case of Ebola.

Asked what measures should be taken for protection against Ebola, she said the risk of spearing in Europe was small, because the healthcare systems in Europe were prepared well to address this kind of situations.

“I’m not worried about the outbreak of Ebola in Europe. I’m concerned about its spread in Western Africa, where we need to focus on helping the countries hit by the epidemic and to focus our efforts on treating and providing additional staff as well as finances needed to treat Ebola patients,” Jakab stated.

Considering the outbreak of bird flu in the Netherlands, she said WHO was monitoring the situation. “There is no data that bird flu can be transmitted from birds to humans, but we are prepared and we are monitoring the situation,” she added.