Ministers of Health of CIS Countries Reviewed Results of Joint Activities over Past Year

The 37^th meeting of the Council on Healthcare Cooperation of the CIS was held in St. Petersburg, with the participation of the health ministers of the Republic of Belarus, the Republic of Kazakhstan, the Kyrgyz Republic, the Russian Federation, the Republic of Uzbekistan, and the Republic of Tajikistan, chief sanitary doctors, academics, and representatives of international organizations.

A greeting to the participants was sent by Secretary General of the IPA CIS Council Dmitriy Kobitskiy. He noted that the field of public health and its legal and regulatory framework was one of the most important areas of the IPA CIS’s activities. The Assembly has developed and adopted more than 50 Model Legislative Acts and recommendations aimed at protecting health, developing healthcare systems, improving demographic trends, and enhancing the quality of life for the populations of the region’s countries.

Dmitriy Kobitskiy thanked the ministries of health for their expert participation and the support provided during the events of the Assembly.

Minister of Healthcare of the Russian Federation Mihail Murashko emphasized the active cooperation between the health ministries of the CIS countries in addressing practical issues of sectoral and intersectoral collaboration within the Commonwealth.

The National Medical Research Center for Children’s Orthopedics and Trauma Surgery named after G.I. Turner (St. Petersburg) became the basic organization for CIS Countries in the field of healthcare within its specialty. The speaker on this issue, which was approved at the meeting, was the center’s director and member of the IPA CIS Expert Advisory Board on Public Health Sergey Vissarionov.

The IPA CIS was represented at the event by Secretary of the IPA CIS Permanent Commission on Social Policy and Human Rights, Executive Secretary of the IPA CIS Expert Advisory Board on Public Health Evgenia Vladimirova. She reported that, with the support of the CIS Executive Committee and the World Health Organization, the Expert Advisory Board had conducted a series of special public sessions in CIS States to present the views of national expert communities on the most important aspects of pharmaceutical provision and to discuss the draft Model Law On Medical Supplies in the CIS Countries.

It was noted at the meeting that over the year, the Commonwealth countries held 150 joint events and developed an updated concept for cooperation in the healthcare sector. It will be reviewed in December, and then the document will be sent to the heads of government of the CIS Countries  for signature.