Concluding conference «Project for the Improvement of School Health Services in the European Region of the World Health Organization»

Head of the Department of Hygiene and Medical Ecology of BelMAPE Elena Guzik and associate professor of the Department of Pediatrics Irina Nenartovich participated at the concluding conference « Project for the Improvement of School Health Services in the European Region of the World Health Organization», which was held in Moscow (Russian Federation) on the 18–19th of November, 2021.

In 2020, Regional Office for Europe and Russian Federation of the WHO initiated a study to assess national school health systems in 9 countries as part of the Russia-WHO project to develop a school health network in Eastern Europe and Central Asia. The purpose of this study was to support countries in assessing existing national regulatory frameworks, as well as assessing the direct delivery of health services in schools in order to improve their quality.

The final conference brought together participants from Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Moldova, the Russian Federation, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan and representatives of Regional Office for Europe the WHO to share the results of the study, get acquainted with existing practices, share experiences and discuss further actions.

The delegation of the Republic of Belarus presented the results of the assessment of the work of the school health services and the prospects for their further development in our country. The delegates of the Republic of Belarus were the following persons: Deputy Head of the Main Department - Head of the Department of Medical Assistance to Mothers and Children of the Main Department of the Organization of Medical Assistance of the Ministry of Health of the Republic of Belarus Lazar Dmitry; chief visiting specialist of the Ministry of Health for outpatient care for children, chief physician of the 6th City Children's Clinical Polyclinic Anna Kotova; Head of the Department of Hygiene and Medical Ecology of BelMAPE Elena Guzik and associate professor of the Department of Pediatrics of BelMAPE Irina Nenartovich. The information aroused keen interest and active fruitful discussion.

The next step in work will be generalization of the results of studies in 9 participating countries and posting the most successful practices in organization of school health services on the website of the World Health Organization.