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 workshop 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)

• Ms. Susanne Weiss, Ministry of Health, Austria 
• Ms. Evi Lindmäe, Health Board, Estonia

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.

• Ms. Dora Kostadinova, Medical University, Bulgaria
• Ms. Sabina Trokic, Ministry of Labour, Family, Social Affairs and Equal Opportunities, Slovenia
• Ms. Beatrice Nimereanu, Ministry of Health, Romania

Session 3: European Health Professional Document: Key Objectives and outcomes of the HPRO card project

• Mr. Patrick Fortuit, French Chamber of pharmacists

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.

• EurHeCA representative
• Selected Experts from EU Member States

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 

• Republic of Moldova
• Croatia

Session 6: Challenges and policy options for the mutual recognition of health professionals qualifications in the countries of the South-eastern Europe Health Network

• Croatia
• Montenegro

Note: Photos are courtesy of the SEE Health Workforce Observatory

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

Mapping of the Moldovan diaspora in Italy, Portugal, France and the United Kingdom

By Ghenadie Cretu
This report is the result of two years of intense work of an independent expert, Moldovan Government officials, diaspora leaders and members, as well as IOM colleagues, both in Moldova and under the guidance of the RO Vienna and in the HQ.
The European Union institutions and the Member States made this document possible – through their financial and moral support and constant interest and guidance.

The study is aimed at researching the social-economic profile of Moldovan citizens temporarily or permanently staying abroad, persons originating from the Republic of Moldova and their descendants, as well as their communities, in order to help the Moldovan Government develop migration management and diaspora engaging policies.

The research had the following specific objectives: (i) To identify the social-demographic, economic and social-cultural profile of Moldovan migrants; (ii) To assess the integration of Moldovan migrants in the foreign labour market; (iii) To analyze the migrants' relation with the home country; (iv) To analyze the level of migrants' social integration in host countries and their relations with diaspora organizations; (v) To assess Moldovan diaspora development and cohesion, as well as its level of self-management; (vi) To gain awareness of migration strategies of Moldovan migrants.

This study is addressed to migrants and their families, representatives of the Moldovan diaspora communities, representatives of the central and local public authorities of Republic of Moldova, in particular the Bureau for Diaspora Relations, all stakeholders interested in increasing the degree of diaspora’s involvement and encouraging the investment of the social and financial capital accumulated abroad in the development of the home country.

This research was carried out by collecting and analysing the opinions of different social stakeholders: Moldovan diaspora, representatives of diplomatic missions abroad, representatives of the local public authorities from Moldova and studied countries. Their opinion on migration, trends, migrants' motivations and expectations, activity of diaspora organizations, return perspectives of migrants to Republic of Moldova was also consulted.

To read or download a copy of the report please click here:

Note: For any further questions on the document or the process which led to its production, please do not hesitate to contact IOM or the author.

First Meeting of the EU Joint Action on HRH

The first meeting of the EU Joint Action on HRH takes place in Brussels on 11-12 April 2013. The Republic of Moldova will be represented by Dr Eugenia Berzan, Head of the Foreign Relations and European Integration Department of the Ministry of Health. Dr Galina Perfilieva, (HRH Program Manager, WHO/Europe), and Dr Ala Nemerenco (team leader of the "Better Managing the Health Professionals Mobility in the Republic of Moldova") will also participate in the kick-off meeting.

For more information on the meeting and its preparations please click here.

For downloading or reading a copy of the 4th issue of The EU Joint Action on HRH Newsletter please click here.

EU Chief Nursing Meeting, Dublin

The EU Chief Nursing meeting is under way in Dublin, Ireland, during 8-9 April 2013. This meeting of Chief Medical and Chief Nursing Officers of EU Member States will discuss important matters of public health.The CNOs meeting during the EU Presidency of Ireland follows the WHO European Meeting of CNOs, Warsaw, Poland, 7-8 October 2011; 16th annual EFNNMA meeting, Copenhagen, 29-30 March 2012; Chief Medical, Chief Nursing and Chief Dental Officers meeting in Nicosia, Cyprus, 09-10 October 2012; WHO CNOs Meeting for Russian-speaking countries, St Petersburg, October 2012.

For more information please click here.

To read or download the program of the meeting please click here.

Extended Migration Profile - Republic of Moldova

By Ghenadie Cretu, IOM

The Extended Migration Profile (EMP) of the Republic of Moldova is the result of intense work of a team of independent experts, Moldovan Government officials as well as IOM experts, both in Chisinau and Vienna, as well as the International Labour Organization.  European Union institutions provided financial and moral support.  The present EMP Report is a country-owned tool to be used to enhance policy coherence, evidence-based policy-making and the mainstreaming of migration into development planning.

This analytical report is part of a complex exercise that will help to improve the data collection and sharing, promote greater coherence and a more comprehensive and coordinated approach to policy development related to migration.

The work will continue with regular independent production of the Report by the Government of Moldova, specifically under the coordination of the Bureau for Migration and Asylum of the Ministry of Interior, jointly with the Technical Working Group members. IOM, together with the UNCT partners will provide all the support needed to build further the capacity of the national institutions for an efficient migration data collection, exchange and analysis for better strategic development policy making.

You can read or download the report by clicking here.

Training on Human Resource for Health for High Level Representatives from the Republic of Moldova

From left to right: Dr Romancenco, Dr Lozan and Dr Jelamschi

A delegation from the Republic of Moldova participated in the training on Human Resources for Health (HRH) organized by the Royal Tropical Institute (KIT) in Amsterdam during 25 Feb – 8 Mar 2013. Members of the delegation included the Director of Human Resources for Health department at the Ministry of Health, the Director of the National School of Public Health, the Deputy Director of the National Center of Health Management (and Director of the SEE Observatory on HRH); and the legal officer of the “Better managing the migration and mobility of health professionals in the Republic of Moldova” project.

As part of the training program, and in close collaboration with experts from KIT, the delegation from the Republic of Moldova developed the methodology for conducting a Training Needs Assessment (TNA) for Human Resources Managers of the health sector. The group is currently following up with developing a list of HRH managers’ responsibilities that is crucial for conducting the TNA.

KIT is a WHO collaborating center on HRH. More information on the KIT training course on HRH can be found here.

The activity was organized and supported by WHO as part of the “Better managing the migration and mobility of health professionals in the Republic of Moldova” funded by the EU and implemented by the WHO Country Office in the Republic of Moldova, with support and coordination from the WHO Regional Office for Europe.

Prof van den Broek and Prof Dieleman