BIH Dedicated to Road Map for Health and Well-Being in Western Balkans

Chairman of the Council of Ministers of BIH Tegeltija took part in at the Central European Initiative Heads of Governments Budva Summit, which adopted a Joint Declaration in Support to Road Map for Health and Well-Being in Western Balkans to 2025. 

Chairman Tegeltija said in his address to the Summit that BIH is absolutely dedicated to the Road Map of Health and Well-Being in Western Balkans, and will commit itself to realisation of key goals stemming from the document. He reminded that health competences belong to the BIH Entities, while the Council of Ministers role has a coordinating between Entity Ministries of Health.

He said that the Entity Ministries of Health consented to endorsement of the document, also as a part of their cooperation with the World Health Organisation Office in BIH.

“The realisation of joint goals from the Road Map for Health and Well-Being in the Western Balkans 2021-2025 will serve as a direct accelerator of progress both in realisation of defined priorities of the Central European Initiative, BIH is affiliate of, and in actions under the existing strategic frameworks, including progressing on SDG goals for the relevant period of time”, the Chairman of the Council of Ministers said.

Given the complex administrative framework in BIH health sector, relevant reforms will be focused to improvement of financial management and financial sustainability of BIH health system, Chairman Tegletija noted.

Tegeltija stressed that reforms should be used for getting a better developed community-oriented  primary health care, including a family medicine model implementation.

“We are aware that the recovery of the health sector, as well as other sectors in BIH, from the Covid-19 pandemics will require additional investments, the effect of which would be visible in a longer term. We do struggle and wait to defeat Covid-19, moving from one phase to the next, so a proper review of the related activities would be very important”, the Chairman of the Council of Ministers stressed.

Chairman Tegeltija urged the WHO and all health sector actors to analyse relevant financial position of the much in need health sector.

“However, funds are required in other sectors in our countries, resources of which were repurposed for citizens’ health. Acknowledging that the most important struggle at this moment is the one for people’s health, as nothing can be more important, we will have to, after the end of the pandemics, reimburse the part of resources reallocated from our development needs to people’s health protection”, Chairman Tegeltija concluded.

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