On 27 May 2010 the Bulgarian Minister for Health, Prof. Anna-Maria Borisova and the Regional Minister for Health of the Italian Autonomous Region of Friuli-Venezia Giulia (Italy), Federica Seganti signed a cooperation agreement in the field of health.

The bilateral agreement provides for the mutual development of human resources and innovation in healthcare and the introduction of ICT for health. Several guests attended the signing, including the Bulgarian Deputy Ministers for Health Ivan Milanov, Gergana Pavlova and Desislava Dimitrova.

The agreement covers in particular the domains of oncology, outpatient services, hospital transfers and specialist trainings. The working plan includes the exchange of experience and best practice among doctors, nurses and experts from Bulgarian and Italian hospitals. Another objective of the agreement is to stimulate cooperation in biomedical research and joint participation in the activities of international research centres.

Minister Borisova explained that the agreement seeks to support the achievement of successful health reform in the country. In this regard, the guests learnt about the planned restructuring of hospital care in line with existing European standards; Bulgaria aims to build a complete electronic healthcare system comprising electronic health records and electronic prescribing. In this light, the Italian experience in the building of information systems will greatly benefit the entire sector according to Ms. Borisova.

Minister Seganti informed the audience of the results of carrying out a similar reform in the Autonomous Region of Friuli-Venezia Giulia. She said the reduction of the number of hospitals was accompanied with increased activity in both pre-hospital care and general health services for the population.

There is according to the Italian regional Minister a real possibility for Bulgaria - as a Member State of the European Union (EU) - to become the leading partner in a joint information services project for the countries of the region in the context of the pending call for projects under the EU programme for Eastern Europe. Interested parties have until July 2010 to declare their participation in the project which is then to be submitted to EU authorities.  

 

Further information: 

• Original press release - Ministry of Health (in Bulgarian)