The second year of COVID-19 pandemic is only deepening the economic crisis, the health toll is inestimable and the future consequences are yet another check to be paid. At this stage, immunization is key to unlock the path towards building back.
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The COVID-19 immunization is scaled-up globally on a different path and scale and the SEEHN Member States also vary depending on an array of factors. However, SEEHN stands by to promote large-scale vaccination, fostering for better emergency preparedness and eventually prepare further for future roll-out within the younger population.
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In this light, the South-Eastern Europe Health Network jointly with Project HOPE and the Center for Human Rights and Humanitarian Studies at the Watson Institute of Brown University have organized the COVID-19 vaccine training program for frontline responders, on 20 May 2021. Member States Ministries of Health demonstrated huge commitment and mobilization efforts.
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As result of strong commitment and contribution of the National Focal Points nominated by respective Ministries of Health, the training gathered over 150 frontline workers from the SEEHN Member States. It offered the platform to discuss the latest science behind different vaccines available on the market, concerns and answers, vaccine rollout communications, prioritization systems and country specific guidelines.
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Additionally, the trainees had the opportunity to hear the first-hand experience and the State of Israel successful story in details. It also covered the adjustments and solutions, future steps and expert opinions.
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Finally, this training of trainers is expected to be rolled out within the SEEHN Member States and multiply the end beneficiaries over 1200 and scale-down further. These trainings aim to shape skills and equip the health care workers for a rapid and safe response.
World Health Organization Hand Hygiene Day is celebrated on 5 of May. This year and in the light of the past pandemic year the importance of adequate handwashing has proved its importance both in our daily lives and in health care settings.
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SEE Health Network (SEEHN) joins the World Hand Hygiene Campaing emphasizing the slogan that “Seconds save lives – clean your hands!”
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This year ties with 2021 the Year of the Health care workers, focusing on the quality of care component and the crucial role of the healthcare workers keeping 5 moments for Hand Hygiene approach:
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before touching a patient
before clean/aseptic procedure
after body fluid exposure risk
after touching a patient
after touching patient surroundings
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SEEHN is flagging the importance of hand hygiene at the points of care and the special role of nurses and midwives in infection prevention and control, providing clean and safer care. SEEHN has channeled its efforts towards nurses and midwifes during the past year in particular. However, the momentum shall be perpetuated and bring the Governments on board with sustainable commitment and access to sanitizers. Empowering health care workers not only in practicing clean environment at every step but also by promoting and raising awareness in the general population on the most affordable and effective infection prevention technique the hand hygiene.
Amidst the turmoil of COVID-19, the development of effective Covid-19 vaccines brings us closer to the promise to put an end to a ravishing pandemic.
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The annual celebration of the World Immunization Week offers a unique opportunity to advocate for greater engagement around immunization globally and to promote large-scale vaccination against COVID-19.
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The South-Eastern Europe Health Network joins the international call to support successful Covid-19 vaccination campaign rollout in its Member States, enabling the country preparedness and the safeguard of lives and livelihoods from the grip of the pandemic.
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The SEEHN, Project HOPE and the Center for Human Rights and Humanitarian Studies at the Watson Institute of Brown University have partnered to deliver a COVID-19 vaccine training program for frontline responders.
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As vaccines become available, local vaccinators are racing against time to immunize as many people as possible. These trainings contribute to health care workers’ skills and equip them with adequate knowledge and skills to respond rapidly and safely.
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The modularized healthcare worker training, planned for mid-May 2021, will be conducted in coordination with SEE Health Network Member States Ministries of Health and other local partners to ensure that country-specific information is integrated into the training curriculum.
On the 8th of April, Dr Mira Dašić, the Director of the South-Eastern Europe Health Network represented the organization at the high-level conference Nurses and midwives, at the forefront of change, organized by the Romanian Order of Nurses and Midwives.
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The event marked World Health Day and served as an opportunity to honor the contribution of nurses and midwives at the frontlines of COVID-19 response and towards achieving the Sustainable Development Goals.
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Chaired by the President of the Romanian Order of Nurses and Midwives, Mr Mircea Timofte, the conference was attended by Dr Hans Kluge, the Regional Director of the Regional Office for Europe of the World Health Organization.
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National high-level officials from the Presidential Administration, the Romanian Parliament as well as Romanian members of the European Parliament addressed the audience that comprised representatives of the Executive Board of the Nursing Order and chief nursing officers from the main public hospitals within the country.
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During his keynote speech, Dr Hans Kluge emphasized the key role of nurses and midwives during the pandemic waves and stressed their fundamental contribution to build back fairly and ensure the resilience of our health systems. No matter where one looked, nurses and midwives were and still are at the core of the Covid-19 response. (…) Nurses and midwives have confirmed beyond the call of duty to keep our community safe. They have been one of the strongest defense lines against Covid 19 in the pan-European region.(…)Nurses are not only the key pillar in our health systems, their work is fundamental in our work in achieving universal health coverage, the official stated.
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Dr Dašić also highlighted in her virtual intervention the role of nurses and midwives as one of the important pillars of the health systems that are at the forefront of COVID-19 response – providing care and play a critical role in emergency risk reduction, preparedness and response.
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The SEEHN director stressed the importance of empowering health professionals with the adequate tools to face emergent threats, resuming some of the most important initiatives focused on strengthening capacities component, such as the one with Project Hope and the most recent CEI-SEEHN initiative “Strong nurses for strong health systems and a healthier world”.
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One of the videos developed within the CEI funded project, containing the testimonials of the beneficiaries of the training, was displayed during the speech.
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Dr Dašić also underlined the added value of the new WHO Strategic Directions for Nursing and Midwifery 2021-2025 as a comprehensive framework that tackles the current challenges and invited the audience to a reflection exercise on key issues in relation to the future programme of work: The question remains: will it be enough? Is it Applicable? Will it be translatable from the idea to actual policies action to strengthen nursing and midwifery towards Universal Health Coverage and achievement of the SDGs agenda?
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In conclusion, the SEEHN director called on the stakeholders to support nurses and midwives so that they are empowered to continue their important work.
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The event had a specific panel dedicated to leadership in nursing, during which Dr Howard Catton, CEO of the International Council of Nurses, Dr Rivka Hazan Hazoref, Director of the WHO Collaborative Centre for Leadership and Governance in Nursing and Professor Thomas Kearns, Executive Director of the Faculty of Nursing and Midwives from the RCSI Dublin, addressed the audience.
Today, 8 April 2021, we are remembering the first ever multi-country meeting of the SEE countries held in Sofia in 2001, when decision for establishing of SEE Health Network was taken. Later on in September 2001, the decision was endorsed by signing the Dubrovnik Pledge by the Ministries of Health of seven SEE countries. The SEEHN is strongly committed to proceed the journey of partnership, solidarity and cooperation in the years ahead!
COVID-19 caused major disruption around the globe. Regrettably the most vulnerable are paying the heaviest toll. This year WHO on World Health Day is pleading for a fairer and healthier world for everyone. SEEHN is also striving for universal health coverage, with the aim to improve access to quality, affordable health care and to advocate for equal access to care, everywhere, without experiencing financial hardship. The pandemic proved that no one is safe until everybody is safe. And even more without qualified and healthy staff there is no response. Therefore, SEEHN sees of outmost importance to continue celebrating the Year of the Health Care Workers (HCW) on this World Health Day and to emphasize the importance and crucial role of HCW played in the health systems. HCW are the ones that can ensure better access to the health services, closer to the patient, through better quality and in this way to improve equity and inclusiveness. Currently, during the pandemic nurses undertook an important role to roll-out the vaccination campaigns. SEE Health Network strongly supports the investment in nursing and midwifery as an investment in Health for All and Leaving No One Behind! Nurses from SEEHN member states expressed their VOICE on: What does it mean to be a nurse? SEEHN express deepest gratitude to nurses and midwifes for the efforts to make our world healthier and safer every day!
Dr. Mira Dasic, director of the Secretariat of the South Eastern Europe Health Network addressed the 7th International Public Health Conference which took place in Albania on the 23 March 2021. The event was co-organized by the Albanian Ministry of Health, WHO, UNFPA, and UNICEF.
High-level representatives of the Government and interested stakeholders as well as international partners attended the event that focused on strengthening the culture of prevention and on how to assure universal access to essential services for all the population.
“Integration of Public Health services into Primary Health Care (PHC)” was the first-ever national public health conference dedicated to primary health care in Albania.
It provided a dialogue platform for professionals and academia to share experiences and to discuss policy, practice, and research, priority challenges to, and lessons learned in developing primary health. It also aimed at sharing best practices on innovative models of services to be developed, and efficient mechanisms for better and more evidence-based policies and practices within the field.
Dr. Mira Dasic attended the parallel session 1 Successful PHC strategies: effective integration of PH functions into PHC with a presentation on SEEHN (Western Balkans and beyond) potential to advocate for better integration of primary health care and public health in the face of COVID-19 pandemic.
The intervention was structured around 3 points: brief introduction on SEEHN, PHC and PH current examples and future possibilities. The SEEHN Director paid tribute to the Declaration of Alma-Ata which is considered to be a strategic milestone in underlying the importance of primary health.
In her remarks, Dr. Dasic encapsulated key messages on the importance of investments in people, partnerships, platforms, and political will. Addressing increasingly complex health needs calls for a multisectoral approach that integrates health-promoting and preventive policies, solutions that are responsive to communities and health services that are people-centered. Strengthening systems at the community and peripheral health facility level contribute to building resilience, which is critical for withstanding shocks to the health system, like the one we are living now.
She underlined to the audience that it is crucial to recommit to strengthening primary health in order to achieve universal health coverage: “leave no one behind” and to secure the health of the whole population.
The SEEHN director stressed the importance of rethinking and reorganizing the system to put the person at the centre: „Through the integration of PHC and PH the existing gap can be closed and move closer to the goal and achieve equitable health for everyone. The PHC as the first point of contact has a crucial role in promoting healthier lifestyles.” PHC professionals should “make every contact count”, which is about making healthy living a priority, Dr. Dasic explained.
The conference was also an opportunity to brief the participants on the regional initiatives SEEHN coordinated starting with the efforts to strengthen PHC in the Network`s Member States back in 2018 and culminating with the recent project; “Strengthening capacities of nurses – front line healthcare workers during the COVID-19 response – Strong nurses for strong health systems and a healthier world” funded by CEI.
The presentation also offered a short glance at the prospects of another SEEHN initiative to be soon implemented with the support of the TAIEX mechanism and hosted by the RHDC on Human Resources for Health hosted by the Republic of Moldova to tackle the PHC skill-mix of nurses and their ability to provide advice on NCDs management.
The SEEHN Secretariat avail itself of this opportunity to welcome the endeavors of Albania to recommit to strengthening primary health care and extend its appreciation for the warm welcoming and the excellent organization of the event.
Dr. Mira Dasic, director of the Secretariat of the South Eastern Europe Health Network addressed the 7th International Public Health Conference which took place in Albania on the 23 March 2021. The event was co-organized by the Albanian Ministry of Health, WHO, UNFPA, and UNICEF.
High-level representatives of the Government and interested stakeholders as well as international partners attended the event that focused on strengthening the culture of prevention and on how to assure universal access to essential services for all the population.
“Integration of Public Health services into Primary Health Care (PHC)” was the first-ever national public health conference dedicated to primary health care in Albania.
It provided a dialogue platform for professionals and academia to share experiences and to discuss policy, practice, and research, priority challenges to, and lessons learned in developing primary health. It also aimed at sharing best practices on innovative models of services to be developed, and efficient mechanisms for better and more evidence-based policies and practices within the field.
Dr. Mira Dasic attended the parallel session 1 Successful PHC strategies: effective integration of PH functions into PHC with a presentation on SEEHN (Western Balkans and beyond) potential to advocate for better integration of primary health care and public health in the face of COVID-19 pandemic.
The intervention was structured around 3 points: brief introduction on SEEHN, PHC and PH current examples and future possibilities. The SEEHN Director paid tribute to the Declaration of Alma-Ata which is considered to be a strategic milestone in underlying the importance of primary health.
In her remarks, Dr. Dasic encapsulated key messages on the importance of investments in people, partnerships, platforms, and political will. Addressing increasingly complex health needs calls for a multisectoral approach that integrates health-promoting and preventive policies, solutions that are responsive to communities and health services that are people-centered. Strengthening systems at the community and peripheral health facility level contribute to building resilience, which is critical for withstanding shocks to the health system, like the one we are living now.
She underlined to the audience that it is crucial to recommit to strengthening primary health in order to achieve universal health coverage: “leave no one behind” and to secure the health of the whole population.
The SEEHN director stressed the importance of rethinking and reorganizing the system to put the person at the centre: „Through the integration of PHC and PH the existing gap can be closed and move closer to the goal and achieve equitable health for everyone. The PHC as the first point of contact has a crucial role in promoting healthier lifestyles.” PHC professionals should “make every contact count”, which is about making healthy living a priority, Dr. Dasic explained.
The conference was also an opportunity to brief the participants on the regional initiatives SEEHN coordinated starting with the efforts to strengthen PHC in the Network`s Member States back in 2018 and culminating with the recent project; “Strengthening capacities of nurses – front line healthcare workers during the COVID-19 response – Strong nurses for strong health systems and a healthier world” funded by CEI.
The presentation also offered a short glance at the prospects of another SEEHN initiative to be soon implemented with the support of the TAIEX mechanism and hosted by the RHDC on Human Resources for Health hosted by the Republic of Moldova to tackle the PHC skill-mix of nurses and their ability to provide advice on NCDs management.
The SEEHN Secretariat avail itself of this opportunity to welcome the endeavors of Albania to recommit to strengthening primary health care and extend its appreciation for the warm welcoming and the excellent organization of the event.
Dr. Mira Dasic, director of the Secretariat of the South Eastern Europe Health Network addressed the 7th International Public Health Conference which took place in Albania on the 23 March 2021. The event was co-organized by the Albanian Ministry of Health, WHO, UNFPA, and UNICEF.
High-level representatives of the Government and interested stakeholders as well as international partners attended the event that focused on strengthening the culture of prevention and on how to assure universal access to essential services for all the population.
“Integration of Public Health services into Primary Health Care (PHC)” was the first-ever national public health conference dedicated to primary health care in Albania.
It provided a dialogue platform for professionals and academia to share experiences and to discuss policy, practice, and research, priority challenges to, and lessons learned in developing primary health. It also aimed at sharing best practices on innovative models of services to be developed, and efficient mechanisms for better and more evidence-based policies and practices within the field.
Dr. Mira Dasic attended the parallel session 1 Successful PHC strategies: effective integration of PH functions into PHC with a presentation on SEEHN (Western Balkans and beyond) potential to advocate for better integration of primary health care and public health in the face of COVID-19 pandemic.
The intervention was structured around 3 points: brief introduction on SEEHN, PHC and PH current examples and future possibilities. The SEEHN Director paid tribute to the Declaration of Alma-Ata which is considered to be a strategic milestone in underlying the importance of primary health.
In her remarks, Dr. Dasic encapsulated key messages on the importance of investments in people, partnerships, platforms, and political will. Addressing increasingly complex health needs calls for a multisectoral approach that integrates health-promoting and preventive policies, solutions that are responsive to communities and health services that are people-centered. Strengthening systems at the community and peripheral health facility level contribute to building resilience, which is critical for withstanding shocks to the health system, like the one we are living now.
She underlined to the audience that it is crucial to recommit to strengthening primary health in order to achieve universal health coverage: “leave no one behind” and to secure the health of the whole population.
The SEEHN director stressed the importance of rethinking and reorganizing the system to put the person at the centre: „Through the integration of PHC and PH the existing gap can be closed and move closer to the goal and achieve equitable health for everyone. The PHC as the first point of contact has a crucial role in promoting healthier lifestyles.” PHC professionals should “make every contact count”, which is about making healthy living a priority, Dr. Dasic explained.
The conference was also an opportunity to brief the participants on the regional initiatives SEEHN coordinated starting with the efforts to strengthen PHC in the Network`s Member States back in 2018 and culminating with the recent project; “Strengthening capacities of nurses – front line healthcare workers during the COVID-19 response – Strong nurses for strong health systems and a healthier world” funded by CEI.
The presentation also offered a short glance at the prospects of another SEEHN initiative to be soon implemented with the support of the TAIEX mechanism and hosted by the RHDC on Human Resources for Health hosted by the Republic of Moldova to tackle the PHC skill-mix of nurses and their ability to provide advice on NCDs management.
The SEEHN Secretariat avail itself of this opportunity to welcome the endeavors of Albania to recommit to strengthening primary health care and extend its appreciation for the warm welcoming and the excellent organization of the event.
A sub-regional consultationonsexual and reproductive health (SRH) was organized on 10-11 March with representatives from Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Kosovo, North Macedonia, Moldova, and Serbia, under the lead of the UNFPA Regional Office for Eastern Europe and Central Asia.
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The meeting focused on the status of sexual and reproductive health and agreed on actions for sustaining and accelerating the progress for sexual, reproductive, maternal, newborn, child, and adolescent health. It also considered the COVID19 pandemic trends and potential impact on SRH in the region.
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The specific objectives of the two days’ sub-regional consultations aimed at:
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– discussing the current status of Sexual and Reproductive Health, especially, in the context of universal health coverage;
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– sharing experiences and results of implementation of the “Action Plan for Sexual and Reproductive Health; Towards achieving the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development in Europe – leaving no one behind”;
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– finding solutions on maintaining access to Sexual and Reproductive Health interventions in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic.
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In her opening remarks, Dr. Mira Dasic, the Director of the Secretariat of the South Eastern Health Network praised the efforts of the UNFPA Regional Office for Eastern Europe and Central Asia to sustaining and accelerating the progress in UHC for SRMNCAH in the region.
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The SEEHN director acknowledged the consequences the pandemic had on the Sustainable Development Agenda, stating that the low- and middle-income countries suffered the most and encountered a decrease in service delivery up to 47%, and that lockdowns and quarantine measures have dramatically limited access to sexual and reproductive health prevention services, procedures and medications.
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At the same time, she made a strong call to acknowledge that the setbacks and disruption caused by COVID-19 need to catch-up as soon as possible to leave no one behind.
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Dr Dasic also stressed the importance of cooperation and partnership to come and support those next steps and recommendations for action on Sexual and Reproductive Health in the context of universal health coverage, so that we build a complementary, joint forces framework, supporting each other to maximize results in the South Eastern Europe.
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SEEHN Secretariat was pleased to be part of this strategic planning exercise involving as partners, the WHO Regional Office for Europe, the Ghent University, and the East European Institute of Reproductive Health acting also as SEEHN Regional Health Development Center.
On February 25, a Regional Webinar “What is currently known about countering misinformation and resilience against misinformation” was held in a virtual format.
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Information literacy proves to be a critical resource and the role of nurses in combating COVID-19 related misinformation is now important more than ever.
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The webinar aimed at providing valuable insights on tools to guide the communities through a minefield of misinformation during these challenging times.
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Three panellists: Ms. Tina D Purnat, Technical Officer, Digital Health Technologies, WHO Supporting WHO COVID-19 Infodemic response pillar discussed on “Infodemic management as a function of health emergency preparedness and community resilience”; Mr. Radoje Cerović, Psychologist and Communication Expert, Digital Transformation strategist presented “Crisis and Risk Communication: Montenegro case study” ; and Ms Einav Shimron, SEEHN National Health Coordinator Deputy Director General for Media and International Relations, Ministry of Health, Israel shared the “Israeli experience on the topic”.
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They explored in-depth the barriers and the enablers to countering mis- and disinformation and examined best practices for tackling the phenomena by stressing the importance of trustworthiness of information and also discussed how to make societies more resilient to the aggressive infodemia.
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In her opening remarks, the Director of the SEEHN Secretariat Dr Mira Dasic stressed once again the crucial role played by the primary health care nurses stating that: “The primary health care Nurses are at the forefront of COVID-19 response, especially at this stage with their double contribution: they provide care and play a critical role in emergency risk reduction, preparedness and response and, at the same time, nurses are expected to ensure the COVID-19 vaccination system”.
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Mr Gian Matteo Apuzzo, Senior expert and project manager, on behalf of Central European Initiative (CEI) Executive Secretariat, stressed the tremendous importance of communication during a pandemic. He also praised SEEHN to be one successful implementer of the health emergency response projects that CEI commissioned last year to help countries with in their COVID-19 response.
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Ms Purnat, highlighted the key drivers that shall shape the approaches in social listening. “Three aspects should be considered by authorities in managing infodemia: (1) accountability to communities we work with, (2) our commitment to evaluation, and (3) supporting community resilience”.
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Mr Cerovic through the Montenegrin case study presented the developed communication strategy and approaches on how to counter misinformation.
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Ms Shimron reflected on the benefits of the community specificities-based approach in tackling the impact of fake news and the importance of using trust frameworks and opinion leaders in messaging and tailoring the message in the native language of the communities.
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This event was also the final activity of the project “Strengthening capacities of nurses – front line healthcare workers during the COVID-19 response – Strong nurses for strong health systems and a healthier world” funded by CEI and implemented by the SEEHN Secretariat.
On 9 February 2021 representatives from SEEHN Member States, WHO Regional Office for Europe, Slovenia, CDC, ECDC and Kosovo*, gathered in a virtual meeting.
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The discussion focused around the COVID-19 Vaccination challenges and opportunities. More than 40 participants joined the conversation and shared valuable experience on the state of affairs in their countries.
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The current sensitive situation related to COVID vaccination in terms of availability, distribution and access are at different degrees in most of the countries.
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The WHO EURO representative stressed that safe and effective vaccines are the critical tool to contain the pandemic. An overview of the landscape of the potential COVID vaccines was presented and the unprecedented effort was put together to tackle the pandemic that could be used in the future to boost solutions for other challenges. Regional mechanism for monitoring the countries COVID-19 preparedness needed to identify the programmatic areas that need strengthening.
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The State of Israel presentation showed that they are a role model, so far, in terms of vaccination strategy and implementation and they shared important lessons learned that could be used in SEE Region.
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Slovenia highlighted the importance of access to the vaccination to all the citizens, including minorities and migrants.
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The country presentations revealed and highlighted the most common specific challenges: the overloaded human resources, delays in vaccine delivery, the media pressure and population acceptance of the COVID vaccines etc.
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The ECDC Representative presented the stress test and reflected on the support provided to the countries who carried out this exercise that is mainly a self-assessment of the preparedness degree. The Western Balkans countries participated to it on the 1.02.2021. The preliminary results were shared and discussed on the 5.02.2021. The highlights emerged from the stress test were:
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• The opportunity to rehearse with the small amount in local settings; possibility to adapt and adjust; robust idea of forward supply chain.
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• Flexibility and adaptation: priority groups, vaccine delivery model, supply chain management, etc.
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• Exchange experience and keep the immunization program in parallel.
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The CDC representative reflected on the state of the affairs on the vaccination plan implementation since mid-December until now, which accounts to over 42 million doses administered so far. Common complexities and further considerations shall be given to: varying cold-chain requirements, need for socially distanced vaccination practices, sub-prioritization might be required when limited supply, one vs. two doses series, vaccine efficacy and safety monitoring, communication and education critical to success of the vaccination program. CDC is building upon a vast communication campaign aimed to reinforce trust, empower healthcare worker providers, engagement with communities and individuals.
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The discussions held proved the importance of this topic and yet again, that solidarity brings benefit and shows to be crucial in fighting back the spread of the virus.
World Cancer Day is marked yearly, on February 4 to raise awareness across the world and to stimulate joint action in the fight against the global cancer epidemic.
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The “I am and I will” campaign acknowledges that everyone has the capacity to address the cancer burden. The theme promotes how our personal actions can be powerful and impactful while recognizing the extraordinary power of cooperation and collective action. Together our actions matter. We can work together to overcome barriers to early diagnosis, treatment and palliative care and achieve global targets to reduce preventable mortality.
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In the efforts to contain the COVID-19 pandemic, we lost focus to a more silent but aggressive fight against cancer, with many patients experiencing disrupting treatment, delayed diagnosis and affected access to medicines. In 2020, 3.5 million people in the European Union were diagnosed with cancer and another 1.3 million people lost their lives to it. Without action to reverse current trends, by 2035 cancer burden is estimated to increase by almost 25% making it the leading cause of death in Europe.
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The recently released European Cancer Beating Plan serves as a unique opportunity for the SEEHN Member States to reinforce their national strategic directions on cancer control.
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The SEEHN strategic vision and various initiatives as well as a dedicated Regional Health Development Center (RHDC) on NCDs hosted by Montenegro, reflect the strong engagement in addressing the burden of cancer. The SEEHN encourages its Member States to run national awareness campaigns to support cancer prevention, early diagnosis and lifesaving treatments.
On 25 January 2021, the SEE Health Network Secretariat Director Dr Mira Jovanovski Dasic and the UNFPA EECARO Regional Director Ms. Alanna Armitage co-signed virtually a new Memorandum of Understanding (MoU).
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Under the MoU, both sides agreed to continue enhancing regional cooperation in public health as one of the highest priority in underpinning political cooperation and economic development in the SEE region, by undertaking exchange of information, publications and joint development and/or implementation of projects and activities in the areas of mutual interest.
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The MoU is an important step in reinforcing the commitment to engage in three transformative results for the health and well-being of the people in the region: ending unmet need for family planning, ending preventable maternal death, and ending gender-based violence and harmful practices.
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The cooperation between SEEHN and UNFPA will be particularly facilitated by the dedicated SEEHN Regional Health Development Centre on Sexual and Reproductive Health, hosted by the East European Institute for Reproductive Health in Romania, a long-standing partner of UNFPA and a recognized expertise and innovation incubator in the region.
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The agreement highlights the importance and benefits of strengthening the regional collaboration on sexual and reproductive health in the region. Improving sexual and reproductive health is one of the key health priorities on the international agenda and goal of the Action Plan for Sexual and Reproductive Health: Towards Achieving the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development in Europe – Leaving No One Behind.
The South Eastern Europe Health Network is hosting the third round of the Online Emergency Training of Trainers on COVID-19 for Primary Health Care nurses to be held from 18 to 22 January 2021.
As we continue to navigate through the pandemic, the South Eastern Health Network remains focused on supporting Member States in their efforts to strengthen emergency preparedness and response mechanisms, while enabling their national representatives to incorporate evidence-based expertise and insights about COVID-19 case management.
These training sessions aim at improving the clinical performance of frontline nurses by providing tools to assist nurses from the eligible Member States to be better equipped for future pandemics and emergencies.
In these SARS-CoV-2 times, the health care workers face serious psychological pressure. The specific session will explore perceptions of the most significant sources of stress in the first and second stages of the coronavirus pandemic and will make recommendations to adopt the supportive, encouragement & motivational, protective, and training & educational interventions, especially through information and communication platform.
Training participants are primary health care nurses from Republic of Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina (two entities: Federation and Republic of Srpska), Montenegro, Republic of Moldova, Republic of North Macedonia and Republic of Serbia.
The training is part of the project “Strong nurses for strong health systems and a healthier world”, Ref. no. 305.998-20, funded by Central European Initiative and implemented by the SEEHN Secretariat.
The Emergency Training of Trainers on COVID-19 for Primary Health Care Nurses Programme launched on December 14, 2020, its second round in a virtual gathering with an outstanding line-up of expert speakers on COVID emergency response topics.
38 participants from 5 SEEHN Member States eligible to the program joined the first day of the training that will run for the next four days, until the 18th of December, 2020.
Considering the extraordinary circumstances, we face, the South Eastern Health Network puts all the forces thus the training programme is an insightful and interactive webinar during which expert speakers will share their knowledge on some of the key elements related to Covid-19 response as a powerful means for improving the clinical performance of frontline nurses.
The Training of Trainers modules will cover the following: the concept of triage of COVID-19 patients, use of PPE to reduce the risk of SARS-CoV-2 exposure, importance of clinical signs of COVID-19 infection in patients as well as the importance of adequate of stress and mental health management during pandemics.
Taking the floor in the opening session, the Director of the SEEHN Secretariat, Dr. Mira Dasic stressed the importance of the role of nurses as core pillars of the health systems. Nurses are at the forefront of COVID-19 response, providing care and play a critical role in emergency risk reduction, preparedness and response. Primary health care nurses are often the first ones to get in direct contact with potential COVID -19 positive patients. They also provide the essential care for the patients, coordinating efforts with other health response team during emergencies. We all know that without well-prepared and protected healthcare staff, there is no response.
The Emergency Training of Trainers on COVID-19 for Primary Health Care Nurses Programme is a capacity-building programme on emergency preparedness and response, designed for frontline Primary Health Care nurses. The programme enables its participants to incorporate evidence-based expertise and insights about COVID-19 case management.
The regional Training-of-trainers’ course is part of the project “Strengthening capacities of nurses – front line healthcare workers during the COVID-19 response – Strong nurses for strong health systems and a healthier world”.
The project is funded by Central European Initiative and implemented by the SEEHN Secretariat in SEEHN selected Member States: Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, Republic of Moldova, Republic of North Macedonia and Republic of Serbia.
The Emergency Training of Trainers on COVID-19 for Primary Health Care Nurses started yesterday, November 30, in virtual format, gathering more than 40 participants.
Welcoming remarks were delivered by the Director of SEEHN Secretariat, Dr. Mira Jovanovski-Dasic, Mr. Gian Matteo Apuzzo, Senior CEI expert, as well as by the two project experts Dr. Luca Rosi and Dr. Nicola Petrosillo.
Dr Dasic emphasized in her speech the critical role nurses play at the forefront of COVID-19 preparedness and response and the need for concrete actions to empower nurses and support them in their daily work to improve case management.
She highlighted that quality health care worker education is not a one-time engagement. Global health trends shift, technology advances, and new practices are developed, therefore continuous health worker training helps the workforce to adapt and deliver higher quality care. The Director of the SEEHN Secretariat also commanded the expert team for their excellent experience and expertise in the field.
This regional Training-of-trainers’ course is part of the project “Strengthening capacities of nurses – front line healthcare workers during the COVID-19 response – Strong nurses for strong health systems and a healthier world”.
The project is funded by the Central European Initiative and implemented by the SEEHN Secretariat in selected Member States: Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Republic of North Macedonia, Montenegro, Republic of Serbia and Republic of Moldova.
The training programme is been driven by the recognition of the challenges faced by nurses in the South-Eastern European region and aims at strengthening the capacities of the primary health care nurses in SEEHN Member States through online trainings on COVID-19 emergency response.
In the next sessions, the participants will also virtually interact and share their experiences. By the end of the training, participants will have a thorough grounding on COVID-19 prevention, promotion and advocacy, to ease their work and to equip them with additional skills on COVID-19 case management.
SEEHN joins the global campaign dedicated to raising awareness related to HIV/AIDS on the World AIDS Day 2020.
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Every year, on 1 December, the world commemorates World AIDS Day. People around the world unite to show support for people living with and affected by HIV and to remember those who lost their lives to AIDS.
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In 2020, the world’s attention has been focused by the COVID-19 pandemic on health and how pandemics affect lives and livelihoods. COVID-19 is showing once again how health is interlinked with other critical issues, such as reducing inequality, human rights, gender equality, social protection and economic growth. With this in mind, this year the theme of World AIDS Day is “Global solidarity, shared responsibility”.
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The COVID-19 pandemic has revealed the entrenched inequalities existing in our societies. This health crisis, like many others, is hitting the poorest and the most vulnerable the hardest.
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Across the WHO European Region, the number of people living with undiagnosed HIV is increasing. More than 136 000 people were newly diagnosed in 2019, according to data published today by ECDC and WHO/Europe. “Roughly 20% of these diagnoses were in the European Union (EU)/European Economic Area (EEA) and 80% were in the eastern part of the WHO European Region.
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The HIV diagnosis (53%) occurs at a late stage of the infection when the immune system has already started to fail. This is a sign that testing strategies in the Region are not working properly to diagnose HIV early.
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WHO/Europe and ECDC emphasize that to reduce the number of future HIV infections, Europe needs to focus on 3 main areas:
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prioritizing a range of prevention measures such as awareness-raising, the promotion of safer sex and condom use, the provision of needle exchange programmes and opioid substitution therapy, and pre-exposure prophylaxis for HIV (also known as PrEP);
providing efficient HIV counselling and testing services including rapid diagnostic services, community-based HIV testing and HIV self-testing; and
ensuring rapid access to quality treatment and care for those diagnosed.”
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HIV infection has no cure yet. Though, antiretroviral (ARV) drugs can control the virus and help prevent transmission so that people with HIV, and those at substantial risk, can enjoy healthy, long and productive lives.
The South-Eastern Europe Health Network held its 43rd Plenary Meeting on the 25 November 2020. In light of the current regional situation, the meeting theme was “COVID-19 Projections Across the SEE Region for the Winter Season: Current Status and Perspectives“.
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The 43rd Plenary was hosted by the Romanian Presidency of the Network, with the Romanian Secretary of State Dr Andrei Baciu chairing the opening session on strategic considerations.
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The meeting gathered representatives of Diplomatic Missions of the SEEHN Member States accredited to Romania, National Health Coordinators and/or Alternates of the Member States to the SEEHN, directors of the SEEHN Regional Health Development Centers (RHDC) and representatives from the partner countries and partner international organizations.
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The opening remarks were given by Dr. Danijela Urosevic, Chair of SEEHN Executive Committee, Dr. Mira Jovanovski Dasic, Head of Secretariat, SEE Health Network, Mr. Robb Butler, Executive Director of the WHO Regional Director`s Office and Ms. Tanja Miščević, RCC`s Deputy Secretary General.
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Considering the worrying resurgence of COVID-19 across the South Eastern European region, the Plenary meeting gave the opportunity to take stock of the situation, anticipate the scenarios for the forthcoming winter season and examine how we can move forward together in a spirit of solidarity and mutual support. Also, the meeting provided a platform to discuss immunization options and health system preparedness in the SEE Region during COVID-19.
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In the closing session of the Plenary, the Romanian Presidency presented its Report reflecting on SEEHN major developments, activities and challenges during its term (July-December 2020) and handed over to Republic of Serbia the chairmanship of the Network.
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At the same time, general policy matters such as the organization of the fifth SEEHN Ministerial Forum to be held in 2021 or 2022 and the celebration of the 20 years of SEEHN in 2021 as well as organizational matters were properly discussed in a closed executive session of the representatives of the SEEHN Member States.
The Emergency Training of Trainers on COVID-19 for Primary Health Care Nurses started yesterday, November 30, in virtual format, gathering more than 40 participants.
