The National Network for Children and Community Bridges got the award in the TEAM category of the Agent of Change Awards by Social Future Foundation. The recognition is for our organizations’ fight for the National Health Insurance Fund to adopt two additional codes allowing medical foods for home treatment of children and adults with various illnesses to be provided by government budgets rather than through donation campaigns.
The Agent of Change recognition is precious for us because together with Community Bridges, we have shown that NGOs, medicians, and volunteers can work together to beat the system and demand the state to provide lasting change for the better for over 550 children, as well as adult patients, with conditions where enteral nutrition is life-saving but extremely costly for their families.
The award is also a recognition for all those 20 organizations in Bulgaria, as well as physicians, volunteers, patient loved ones and citizen advocates who fought a two-year battle with us until the adoption this September of the ICD 10 codes – E43 for “Severe protein-calorie malnutrition, unspecified” and E44.0 for “Moderate protein-calorie malnutrition” – that the Food and Nutrition Service is committed to providing as state care.
The fourth edition of the Agent of Change Aeards took place on November 30 in Sofia and once again honored the strongest causes and the people behind them who contributed to positive change in 2023. The awards recognize the agents of positive change, best practices and socially significant societal initiatives.
This year’s edition gathered nominations in seven competition categories. A jury composed of: Angel Georgiev – educational expert, Assen Asenov – marketing and PR expert, Angela Ivanova – social entrepreneur and volunteer in various NGOs, Georgi Malchev – marketing and business expert, Gergana Boneva – corporate affairs associate, Daniel Penev – journalist, and translator and editor, Denitsa Tomova – project manager at Darik Radio, Desislava Vassileva – PR and media expert, Dimitar Naydenov – corporate affairs manager, Elena Litova – head of marketing department at a large audit company, Justine Toms – digital marketing expert, activist and lecturer, Peter Neftelimov – biotechnologist and entrepreneur, Assoc. Dr. Stefan Serezliev – an advertising and branding expert – performed the task of distinguishing the best among the best from over a hundred nominations
“Agent of Change” started in 2019. Through online voting, the audience nominates successful examples in the categories Business Organization, Team, The Change in the Young, The Change in Everyone, Communicators, Cause and Ambassador.