Our Efforts in South East Europe
On 23 January 2025, ECO held a landmark event in Sofia (Bulgaria) and online, bringing together health leaders, policymakers, researchers, and advocates from Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, North Macedonia, Romania, Serbia, Slovakia and Turkey. The event featured the signing of a joint declaration, a regional call to action to eliminate cancers and other diseases associated to the human papillomavirus (HPV) in South East Europe. The conference served as a platform to discuss challenges and new opportunities for the coming year in combating HPV-related cancers across the region.
Read here the full text of the HPV South East Europe Declaration
The conference and joint declaration had the aim of strenghtening regional partnerships, sharing successful practices, and exploring policy solutions to significantly improve rates of vaccination and screening across South East Europe.
It represents a commitment by all countries to collaborate closely in the fight against HPV. This model agreement focuses on four key objectives, including:
- Strengthening data collection and registry systems in target countries;
- Implementing best practices in partnership building and stakeholder engagement to stimulate mobilisation and advocacy efforts;
- Expanding gender-neutral vaccination coverage and enhancing screening programmes; and
- Promoting knowledge exchange and joint solutions to address common challenges.
Key political figures participating in the conference included: Stella Kyriakides, Former EU Commissioner for Health and Food Safety; Silvi Kirilov, Health Minister of Bulgaria; Kostadin Angelov, Member of Bulgarian Parliament and former Health Minister; Christina de Bruin, Representative of UNICEF Bulgaria and Daniel Kelly, Co-Chair of the ECO HPV and Hep B Action Network. Tiberius Brădăţan, Secretary of State for the Romanian Ministry of Health will also deliver a video address.
