Dr. Zheni Staikova, Director of RIPCPH Kardjali

Ten thousand people in Kardjali municipality suffer from chronic non-infectious diseases. The total number of hypertonics is 8388, where men predominate – 5085. The age limit is dropping for both genders. High blood pressure occurs in people aged between 25 and 34, while those above 65 suffer from cardiovascular diseases. In 2006 some 1800 diabetes cases were registered in the municipality. The data about overweight is also alarming. This motivated the steering board of association Public Coalition for Health to apply for finances to the Social Investment Fund of the Ministry of Labour and Social Policy (MLSP) for a project Together We Can Improve Our Lives. The project was to the total cost of BGN 35 210, of which the fund allocated a subsidy to the amount of BNG 28 170. The coalition contributed BGN 7040 thanks to the understanding and support of the Municipality Mayor Eng. Hasan Azis, and the Municipality Council chaired by Seifi Nedjib, at whose proposal each year part of the budget is voted for activities for public health care, carried out by the coalition.

The implementation of the project Together We Can Improve Our Lives is the occasion to talk with Dr. Zheni Staikova, project coordinator and vice president of Public Coalition for Health

Dr. Staikova, do you think the work under this project is a good step towards using the potential of the Coalition as an NGO in the direct activity for prevention and prophylaxis of the chronic non-infectious diseases?
As director of the Regional Inspectorate for Protection and Control of Public Health (RIPCPH) in Kardjali, I have long become convinced that without the assistance of the non-governmental sector many of the prevention and health promotion activities could not be carried out on such large scale, as is the case with this project. Furthermore, with its own potential the coalition involved representatives of other NGOs, of the regional state institutions, the local authorities and the business. Thus we managed to enhance our partnership and map out short- and long-term measures for work on other projects for public health improvement. We are happy that our fellow-citizens appreciated highly what has been done for them. Our endeavour will continue to develop and has a broad public response, because here we are all together for the achievement of a healthier way of life.

What was the aim of the project Together We Can Improve Our Lives?
The Coalition has been working actively under the international CINDI (Countrywide Integrated Noncommunicable Diseases Intervention) program for 10 years now. The results from the three large-scale screenings carried out so far showed that predominantly the active population, men and women 40-65 years of age, suffer from high blood pressure, cardiovascular diseases, diabetes and have overweight or obesity. The people with these diseases, which we popularly call socially significant, can improve their condition by extra care. Unfortunately, again according to our survey, many of the consumers of social health services are people in disadvantaged situation and cannot afford it. Our aim was to raise their awareness of the effects of their diseases on the quality of life, on the one hand, and to offer them free extra care for improvement of their condition, on the other.

To what extent did you achieve this aim?
I don’t think it would be immodest if I say we achieved our aim to a very high degree. Today, to our satisfaction 30 socially disadvantaged inhabitants of the municipality, suffering from chronic non-infectious diseases, have improved their health and self-confidence. At RIPCPH we built a Centre for Prophylaxis of Socially Significant Diseases. The centre offers free extra social health care and has offices in endocrinology, dietology and kinesitherapy. Leading specialists give consultations to the visitors and offer them individual nutrition and locomotor regimen. At first this was done only for the target group, but now the doors of the centre are open to anybody who wants to lead a healthy life or relieve their condition. For the first time these services with social effect are provided not at specialized institutions but in the community.

In a congratulatory address to the Public Coalition for Health the Minister of Labour and Social Policy Mrs. Emilia Maslarova gave a high assessment of the project implementation: “With the opening of this Centre you come in the front ranks of social policies in Bulgaria – creation of new opportunities for improvement of the quality of life of the human factor. With your activity you make your contribution to the welfare of the Bulgarian family. Your knowledge of the problems in Kardjali with respect to population geography, composition by age and gender, life expectancy and the conditions that influence it – economic and cultural, the environment and working conditions, indicates your substantial place in Bulgarian society. I strongly believe that you make the social system more stable and developed. The Ministry of Labour and Social Policy deems that this acquisition brings forth a new good practice of interaction between the state and the citizens, the latest strategy in the European Union today.”

The concept on which you have drawn and implemented this project is very topical and concerns serious problems…
Yes, indeed. Therefore on March 26 this year it concluded with a roundtable, “Socially Significant Diseases – Effects on the Quality of Life and Work”.

With the support of the National Centre for Protection of Public Health (NCPPH) at the Ministry of Health, reports were read by leading specialists such as Assoc. Prof. Dr. Nikola Vasilevski and Assoc. Prof. Dr. Donka Baikova, as well as Dr. Alexander Shinkov, chief assistant at the Specialized Hospital for Active Treatment in Endocrinology in Sofia.

In a salutatory to the participants in the roundtable, the Minister of Health Prof. Radoslav Gaidarski wrote: “In the implementation of the national health policy we pay major attention to the socially significant diseases, since they have serious health, social and economic consequences not only for the affected citizens but for their families too. One of our main priorities is the realization of prophylactic and screening programs in order to achieve early diagnosing and correspondingly more successful treatment of these diseases. I believe this meeting will make a contribution to this end.”

To make sure that the initiative is kept up, the participants in the roundtable – representatives of the health service, local authorities, state institutions, the non-governmental sector, business, citizenry and journalists – drew a Memorandum, agreeing to use fully our joint capacity for policy formation and implementation of other projects for improvement of public health in Kardjali municipality.

You gather momentum and win trust?
Projects like Together We Can Improve Our Lives, which are in the interest of public health, are a priority in our activity. What is more, there are wide opportunities for action on the part of RIPCPH and the health service, as well as the non-governmental sector. And when efforts are pooled, positive results are always there.