22 November 2016 – The workshop, which brought together representatives of state institutions and non-governmental organisations that are involved in healthcare and social care with the common goal of identifying potential mechanisms of cooperation and of developing joint models and recommendations for their improvement, was held on Tuesday at the EU Info Centre.
The workshop is part of the “HealthUP” project, supported by the European Union, which aims to strengthen partnership dialogue and cooperation between the governmental and non-governmental sectors in the field of healthcare. The goal of the two-year programme, which will be implemented by the NGO Roditelji, the Montenegrin Association against AIDS – CAZAS and the SOS Hotline for Women and Children Victims of Violence Podgorica, is to further reinforce and strengthen civil society organisations so that the healthcare system is more efficient and more focused on the needs of patients.
At the workshop, a study on mechanisms of cooperation between the governmental and non-governmental sectors was presented. It showed that only a small number of laws in the field of healthcare define in any form cooperation between public health institutions and civil society organisations. In the view of the organisations that deal with these issues, their services and extensive experience are not used enough in practice. Representatives of the NGO Roditelji reminded that an efficient and accountable healthcare system is one of the keys for the socio-economic development of Montenegro on its path towards EU membership. They expect this project to contribute to the promotion of EU values and standards by pushing forward the alignment of public policies in the healthcare sector with those applicable in the EU.
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