Issues related to the cooperation across the CIS in the field of public health discussed in Minsk

On 28 November, the CIS Executive Committee in Minsk provided a venue for the meeting of the Working Group on Drafting the Plan on Implementation of the CIS Concept of Cooperation in Combating Oncological Diseases.

Representatives of the Republic of Armenia, the Republic of Belarus, the Republic of Kazakhstan, the Russian Federation and the CIS Executive Committee attended the meeting. On behalf of the CIS Interparliamentary Assembly the meeting was attended by the representative of the IPA CIS Council Secretariat Yuri Andreev. Director of the Department for Humanitarian Cooperation, General Political and Social Problems of the CIS Executive Committee Vladimir Kiku opened the meeting.

The CIS Concept of Cooperation in Combating Oncological Diseases sets out the basic principles of joint effort for prevention, early detection and treatment of oncological diseases, as well medical, economical, legal and social measures aimed at health protection and ensuring longevity. The cooperation in this sphere will be based on developing priority areas and joint preparation of oncology research papers, optimization of the use and implementation of scientific, technical and other achievements for the prevention, early detection and treatment of cancer, cooperation in education, retraining and professional upgrade of specialists, organization and hosting of international forums on relevant oncology issues.

The CIS Concept of Cooperation in Combating Oncological Diseases was adopted by the Decree of the Council of the CIS Heads of Government on 7 June 2016. The CIS Advisory Board on Cooperation in the Field of Public Health was mandated to draft and submit for the consideration by the Council of the CIS Heads of Government the Draft Plan on Implementation of the CIS Concept of Cooperation in Combating Oncological Diseases.

The participants of the meeting discussed the amendments to the Draft Plan made by the Republic of Belarus, the Republic of Kazakhstan and the Russian Federation. After the discussion the working group agreed that there was a need to host an additional meeting to finalize the drafting of the document, which is being designed for the period of 2019-2020. It was decided to hold the next meeting of the working group in the first quarter of 2018 and to submit the materials to the relevant ministries of the CIS member states for further amendments and proposals on the Draft Plan.

On 29 November, the meeting of the CIS Commission on Cooperation with the World Health Organization took place. The meeting brought together representatives of the Republic of Armenia, the Republic of Belarus, the Republic of Moldova, the Republic of Kazakhstan, the Russian Federation and staff members of the CIS Executive Committee. Yuri Andreev participated in the meeting on behalf of the IPA CIS Council Secretariat.

The Commission was established to join the efforts of the CIS member nations to promote joint health programs under the auspices of the World Health Organization. The activity of the Commission is based on the Agreement on Cooperation in the Field of Public Health Protection of 18 June 1992, the CIS Concept of Cooperation in the Field of Public Health Protection of 18 September 2003 and the CIS Strategy for People's Health of 7 June 2016.

The participants of the meeting adopted the rules of procedure and the agenda that featured the issues related to the composition and the Chair of the CIS Commission on Cooperation with the World Health Organization, the Statute of the Commission, the work plan of the Commission for 2018, proposals of the Commission to be included into the agenda of the regular meeting of the CIS Advisory Board on Cooperation in the Field of Public Health, as well as the date and the venue of the next meeting.

During the meeting the representative of the Republic of Kazakhstan was elected Chair of the CIS Commission on Cooperation with the World Health Organization for 2018. In addition, the participants concluded that it was necessary to update information on the Commission composition in accordance with the Statute of the Commission.

Moreover, it was suggested to include in the draft agenda of the next meeting of the CIS Advisory Board on Cooperation in the Field of Public Health an item on the activity of the CIS Commission on Cooperation with the World Health Organization.

The next meeting of the Commission will take place in April 2018 in the Republic of Kazakhstan.