SEEHN Health Workforce Observatory

The Regional Health Development Center (South-eastern Europe Observatory) on Human Resources for Health is an initiative of the SEE Health Network and includes national institutions in Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Israel, Republic of Moldova, Montenegro, Republic of Macedonia, Romania and Serbia. The SEEHN Health Workforce Observatory is hosted by the National Center on Health Management in Chisinau, Republic of Moldova, and receives technical support and guidance by the WHO Regional Office for Europe Human Resources for Health Program.

Tuesday, June 25, 2013

TAIEX workshop on "Harmonization and Mutual Recognition of Health Professionals' Qualifications in Europe" takes place in Chisinau

by Dr Maria Ruseva, SEEHN Executive Committee

A subregional workshop on harmonization and mutual recognition of health professionals' qualifications in Europe took place in Chisinau, on 18-19 June 2013, under the auspices of the SEE Health Network Presidency of the Republic of Moldova

The workshop was organized by the European Commission TAIEX Office with the kind support of the Ministry of Health of the host country and the SEE Regional Health Development Centre (RHDC) and Observatory on Health Workforce.

The participants, the SEE Health Network and the local organizers in the Republic of Moldova (Ministry of Health, and the RHDC on HRH), express to TAIEX their gratitude for its support to the multi-country workshop on “Harmonization and mutual recognition of health professionals’ qualifications in Europe”.

The active and constant participation of the Minister of Health of Moldova, Dr. ANDREI USATII in the workshop is highly commended. The w
orkshop was attended by over 50 experts and participants from Austria, Bulgaria, Estonia, Romania and Slovenia, as well as all the South-Eastern Europe Health Network (SEEHN) countries. The workshop highlighted the key significance of the European Commission Directive EC2005/36 examined at the Workshop in relation to the regulated professions (with special reference to medical doctors) and provided a better insight into the legal and practical aspects of its implementation in the EU Members States and the current state of play in the countries of the SEEHN.

This examination highlighted the importance of this Directive in relation to:
  • further enhancing the quality of health care and safety of patients in all the countries of the SEEHN, and providing high quality health services to the populations;
  • ensuring good quality and competent health care to all people traveling between and to the countries of the SEEHN;
  • the appropriate management of the mobility of medical doctors into and out of the countries of the SEEHN.
The TAIEX meeting identified the need for a follow-up to provide a more in-depth assistance to the countries of the SEEHN in this very sensitive area, taking also into account the revision of the above mentioned Directive, currently in the final stages of adoption, and which introduces in particular the very important and sensitive issue of language competency. The meeting considered that an initial step should be the organization of TAIEX expert missions to the countries of the SEEHN.

The TAIEX meeting also discussed the recently initiated European Commission (DG SANCO) funded three years “Joint Action on European Workforce Planning and Forecasting” part of the Action Plan for the "EU Health Workforce – improving workforce planning” adopted by the European Commission in April 2012.

The participants considered that this initiative is closely related to the health workforce concerns of the countries of the SEEHN and recommended that a close relation be established, possibly in the form of Memorandum of Understanding between this EU initiative and the SEEHN, following the positive preliminary discussions with the leaders of this initiative – the Federal Public Service Health, Food Chain Safety and Environment of Belgium.

Following the TAIEX meeting, at the 31st Plenary Meeting of the SEEHN under the Presidency of Moldova on June 20 and 21, a Decision was adopted in line with the conclusions and requests formulated at this present TAIEX meeting.


You can read or download the presentations by clicking below:

Session 1: Health professions regulation in the EU: Modernization of the Professional Qualifications Directive – The European Directive 2005/36/EC on the recognition of professional qualifications (including implementation challenges,  importance of inter-sectoral cooperation, and methodology for the  recognition of qualifications from 
outside the EU)
Session 2: Experience of the recent EU Member States in implementation the European Professional Qualifications Directive: challenges (including those of intersectoral cooperation and methodology for the recognition of qualifications from outside the EU), lessons learnt and future perspectives.
Session 3 (cont.): Role of competent authorities in health professions regulation in the EU Member States. European Health Competent Authorities/EurHeCA: an overview of the genesis, objectives and activities.
Session 4: Role of inter-sectoral cooperation on health professionals regulation in the Republic of Moldova 
  • Panel of national experts (Ministry of Health, Ministry of Education, Ministry of Labour, Medical University, Professional associations)
  • Presentation
Session 5: National approaches, including inter-sectoral cooperation) in regulating health professions in the Countries of the South-eastern Europe Health Network (SEEHN) and its harmonization with the EU requirements, including mutual recognition of qualifications 
Session 6: Challenges and policy options for the mutual recognition of health professionals qualifications in the countries of the South-eastern Europe Health Network

Note: Photos are courtesy of the SEE Health Workforce Observatory








Monday, June 24, 2013

Technical discussion on the WHO Code implementation in the Republic of Moldova

by Ms Rodica Munteanu, WHO Country Office in the Republic of Moldova

A technical discussion with national stakeholders on the implementation of the WHO Global Code of Practice on the International Recruitment of Health Personnel was held in the Republic of Moldova on the 17th of June 2013. The event was organized by the Ministry of Health with the support of the WHO CO and WHO Regional Office for Europe, and brought together over 80 stakeholders involved, including representatives of the Ministry of Health, the Ministry of Justice, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and European Integration, the Bureau for Diaspora Relations, academic institutions, civil society organizations, and representatives of international organisations. The technical discussion aims to promote debate on effective policy options to strengthen the national health workforce and health systems and to foster commitment of all national stakeholders to implement the Code in the country.

A representative from the WHO Regional Office for Europe discussed the WHO commitments and the past developments in Code reporting and monitoring. The project director from the Norwegian Directorate for Health concentrated on the policies and mechanisms a receiving country has adopted in order to manage migration and the HRH challenges it faces. A health advocate from the Dutch WEMOS Foundation gave an overview of the Code Implementation in EU countries, focusing on the good practices and stakeholders’ collaboration before an advocacy coordinator from an EU-Funded project described the Italian case study of Code implementation and the role of civil society organizations in enforcing the Code.

The conclusions of the technical discussion centered on the importance of accurate and actual data, the necessity for a more intensive collaboration between various national and international stakeholders, as well as promoting the Code through the distribution of such materials as were translated and given to the participants at the technical discussion as the Code and the User’s Guide of the Code. Event participants agreed that continuous capacity building for the Ministry of Health and medical institutions is needed for a better management of human resources for health. Finally, it was agreed that active steps need to be taken by Moldovan authorities, in collaboration with other interested stakeholders, in starting negotiations for bilateral agreements to be signed by Moldova with countries of destination on a variety of health-related issues, such as recognition of qualifications, technical assistance, circular migration, etc.

The activity is part of the biennial collaborative agreement (BCA) 2012–2013 between the Ministry of Health of the Republic of Moldova and WHO/Europe. The technical discussion and the ongoing process of strengthening the capacity of the Republic of Moldova to manage the migration of Moldovan health professionals are related to the EU-funded project “Better Managing the Mobility of Health Professionals in the Republic of Moldova”.


You can read or download the presentations by using the links below:

WHO Commitments: Global Code of Practice on the International Recruitment of
Health Personnel

Norway’s policies and leadership before and after Code Implementation
Otto Christian Rø, Project Director, Norwegian Directorate of Health

An overview of Code Implementation in EU countries: good practices and
stakeholders collaboration
Ms Linda Mans, Health Advocate, HRH Programme, WEMOS Foundation

Implementing the Code in the Republic of Moldova: experience, barriers and steps to
be taken
Mr Nicolae Jelamschi, Director of Regional Observatory on HRH of SEEHN

Code Implementation: lessons learned from the Italian case and role of civil society
organizations
Ms Giulia De Ponte, Project “Health workers for All and All for Health Workers”

The Code and the call for bilateral agreements: past experiences and future prospects
Mr Arcadie Cotruta, Legal Project Officer, WHO Moldova Country Office

The importance of accurate data concerning the mobility of health professionals in the
process of policy formation and retention of health workers
Mr Nicolae Jelamschi, Director of Regional Observatory on HRH of SEEHN

Presentation of the Study results “Intention to leave the destination country and
priority migration directions of health workers in the years 2007-2012”
Dr Svetlana Nichita, Head of National Observatory on HRH


Note: Text and photos courtesy of WHO Country Office in the Republic of Moldova