TALLINN, Jun 26, BNS – Director General of the World Health Organization (WHO) Margaret Chan, who during a conference in Tallinn praised Estonia for good performance in health care, pledged to come back to see whether Prime Minister Andrus Ansip has taken her advice into account.
Speaking at the WHO European region ministerial conference here on Thursday, Ansip said that 69 percent of Estonian residents are satisfied with medical care.
In her remarks, Chan first offered her congratulations to the Estonian prime minister, saying that only in very few countries the share of satisfied patients was so big.
Chan reminded Ansip that only he has the power to persuade all ministers to make decisions that actually have a positive effect on people’s health, and that a country works as one whole, spokespeople for the Estonian Ministry of Social Affairs said.
She observed that in the case of chronic diseases, for example, also the contributions of the ministers of environment, transport and others are important, aside from that of the minister responsible for health care.
Chan said she would definitely come back to Estonia to see whether the prime minister has taken her advice into account and whether the Estonian people are still doing well.
The EU health commissioner, Androula Vassiliou, spoke of new initiatives by the Commission. A lot of attention is being paid to bringing things online, such as by using e-prescriptions.
For the Commission also the availability of health services in other EU member states is important. The desire is to set out a framework for patients by means of EU legislation to have access to medical services in neighboring countries, because in border areas aid could be nearest on the other side of the border.
An European ministerial conference of the WHO titled “Health Systems, Health and Wealth” is taking place in Tallinn from June 25-27. Some 600 participants are attending the event, with the delegations of the 53 nations headed by either ministers or high-level officials.
Also taking part are guests from outside the European region and representatives from international organizations.
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