Hours ago, the Minister of Health, Prof. Hristo Hinkov, signed an order to establish a Public Council for the construction of the National Children’s Hospital. The Ministry of Health (MoH) announced that the Public Council is being formed to ensure transparency and accountability in the process of its construction.
The Council had been promised by three regular and caretaker governments. We are delighted that the National Children’s Hospital will finally be established through a transparent and publicly accountable process, as we have always advocated.
According to the MoH’s decision, the Council will consist of ten experts, with five of them being medical professionals and the other five experts from the civil sector. For us, this signifies a strong commitment from the ministry to lead the process in a transparent manner and with consensus from all key stakeholders.
Here is the composition of the Council:
- Chairman: Prof. Ivan Litvinenko, Chairman of the Bulgarian Pediatric Association.
- Members:
- Prof. Anna Kuneva, Head of the Department of Pediatric Cardiology at the National Cardiology Hospital.
- Assoc. Prof. Boryana Avramova, Head of the Department of Pediatric Clinical Hematology at UMBAL “Tsaritsa Yoanna – ISUL.”
- Dr. Blagomir Zdravkov, Executive Director of SBAL for Children’s Diseases “Prof. Ivan Mitev.”
- Marina Gineva, Chairperson of the Board of Directors of SBAL for Children’s Diseases “Prof. Ivan Mitev.”
- Nadezhda Tsekulova, health journalist and activist in the NGO “For a Real Children’s Hospital.”
- Maria Brestnichka, representative of the “National Network for Children.”
- Nadezhda Rangelova-Boyadzhieva, Chairperson of the “For the Good” Foundation.
- Vesela Banova, creator of the “Child and Space” Association.
- Ani Stoyanova, mother of Danaya.
The National Civil Initiative “For a Real Children’s Hospital” was established by the National Network for Children, and the decision for Bulgaria to have a true pediatric hospital is an achievement of three years of efforts by the people involved. The initiative successfully advocated for the cancellation of the public procurement for the completion of the skeleton in the complex of the Aleksandrovska Hospital. Additionally, its request for the establishment of a Public Council for the hospital’s construction was supported by 6,046 real signatures, marking a second major victory for the civil initiative.
For the National Network for Children and all 130 organizations in the network, the establishment of the Public Council is a huge success. The National Network for Children, along with the other members of the Council, commit to monitoring and publicizing the process of creating the hospital so that Bulgaria finally has a Real Children’s Hospital.
The MoH stated that the Council will serve in an advisory capacity and will facilitate interaction between the Ministry of Health, “Health Investment Company for Children’s Hospital” EAD, and the public through regular meetings based on a six-month schedule, with no less than one meeting per month.
