site.btaNew National Health Strategy Being Elaborated

February 20 (BTA) - A new National Health Strategy is being elaborated because the current one expires at the end of 2020, parliamentary Healthcare Committee Chair Daniela Daritkova said during a forum on the future of the healthcare system, held here on Thursday. An electronic prescription is expected to be introduced by the end of this year, she also said.

The sustainable development of the healthcare system requires decisions to be taken through dialogue and consensus between the various political forces, society, businesses, the nongovernmental sector, and professional organizations, Daritkova argued. In her words, the changes in the sector should happen through evolution, and not revolution.

Deputy Health Minister Boyko Penkov told the forum that in the last five years, attention has been paid to the timely treatment of diseases, but the new idea is to live disease-free. This is achievable through an increase of the average life expectancy, which has risen by 20 years in the EU in the last seven years, he noted.

Bulgarian Pharmaceutical Union head Assena Stoimenova said her organization supports the process' sustainability and expects cooperation with the Bulgarian Medical Association and institutions. According to her, strengthening the role of the pharmaceutical profession would lower the expenditures on medicinal products, and pharmacies should not be seen solely as commercial establishments.

Bulgarian Medical Association head Ivan Madzharov said that doctors' role has changed: they have turned from a last instance into an intermediary between the pharmaceutical industry, new technologies and patients. Bulgaria is among the few countries where continuing professional development and the introduction of registers for qualification documents are not yet compulsory. In his words, such registers would guarantee that the population will be treated by qualified cadres.

Andrey Damyanov, representative of patients' organizations to the Supervisory Board of the National Health Insurance Fund, said that measures should be introduced for increasing the trust between doctors and patients. What is expected of the 2020-2030 period is timely healthcare, placement of the patient at the healthcare system's centre, electronization of the system, statistics and good analyses to prevent "twisted data", he argued.

RI/DS
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