Bulgaria

Bulgaria
cervical cancer being one of the most common cancers among women (1100 new cases and 340 deaths every year). Dr Desislava
Atanasova, Chair of the Healthcare Committee of the Bulgarian National Assembly (and
Bulgarian Minister of Health since 16 March,
2012), expressed hope that the CCPW 2012
will continue to raise awareness among Bulgarian women of the ways that cervical cancer can be prevented. Finally, the Mayor of
Sofia, Mrs Yordanka Fanda­kova, stated that
politicians and all those responsible for the
delivery of health services to Bulgarian wom-
The Cervical Cancer Prevention Week
(CCPW) 2012 in Bulgaria focused on a series
of initiatives designed to highlight the importance of cervical cancer prevention through
screening and HPV vaccination to the general public.
The week began with a press conference to
announce the objectives for Bulgaria and to
distribute information about cervical cancer
prevention to journalists. This was followed
Prof Dr Zdravka Valerianovna - Executive Director of the Hospital for Oncology Treatment, Mrs Tsetska Tsacheva - President of the 41st Bulgarian National Assembly, Dr Desislava Atanasova - Chair of the National
Assembly Health Committee, Mrs Yordanka Fandakova - Mayor of Sofia
city, Dr Ljubomir Kirov - National Consultant in General Medicine (L to R)
Dr Desislava Atanasova - Chair of the National Assembly Health Committee and
Dr Anna Jorge - Director of ECCA and
former Minister of Health for Portugal.
en must work to ensure the implementation
of policies and measures di­rected at cervical cancer prevention. Mrs Fandakova also
spoke of the important role that schools must
play to support HPV vaccination. For the first
time, this Roundtable Meeting was attended
by school teachers as well as mothers and
girls of HPV vaccination age.
by the 5th Cervical Cancer Roundtable meeting that has been held annually in the Bulgarian National Assembly since 2008. Held under the patronage of Mrs Tsetska Tsacheva,
the President of the 41st Bulgarian National
Assembly and Chair of the Roundtable, and
organized in cooperation with the Health
Committee of Bulgarian National Assembly
and the Municipality of Sofia, the meeting entitled “Politics and Society – United Efforts to
Fight against Cervical Cancer” was held from
14.00 to 16.00 on 25 January in the National
Assembly in Sofia.
During the Roundtable Meeting, Dr Zdravka
Valerianovna, Executive Director of the National Oncology Hospital, observed that
Bulgaria has not achieved good results in
cervical cancer prevention as it has among
the highest incidence and mortality rates in
Europe.
During the opening speeches, Mrs Tsacheva noted that the government has a strong
commitment to the fight against cancer, with
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Subsequently, Dr Ana Jorge, Director of
ECCA and former Minister of Health for Portugal, gave a presentation about the successful
implementation of cervical cancer prevention
measures in other European countries and
highlighted the importance of effective cooperation among politicians, health institutions,
health professionals and NGOs to achieving good results. She continued to note that
events like CCPW are also very important in
the process of raising awareness and ensuring that all women know what they have to do
to protect their health. Dr Jorge concluded
with the observation that, “Parents in Portugal actively supported the national HPV vaccination programme as we undertook a carefully planned public education programme to
ensure people had an accurate understanding and then they were very interested to
make sure their daughters were protected.”
together with representatives of the Bulgarian Paediatrician’s Association, NGOs, patient organisations, etc.
In order to raise awareness of cervical cancer prevention among the general public an
extensive promotional campaign was undertaken during the CCPW with an internet communications campaign, billboards erected in
Sofia carrying the message “European Cervical Cancer Prevention Week 2012 - Choose
Life!”, TV and radio advertising, and the distribution of Pearl of Wisdom brooches to leading Bulgarian television journalists. A number
of radio interviews were conducted including
one with Dr Zdravka Valerianovna who summarised the main features of cervical cancer
and highlighted the most important steps for
the prevention of this disease as “awareness,
vaccines for adolescent girls, and screening
for adult women,” and another with TV7 director Vasil Lesov who emphasised the importance of informing women that cervical
cancer screening and HPV vaccination programmes could effectively eliminate cervical
cancer. The campaign generated wide coverage in the print media with more than 23
articles in newspapers and magazines and
numerous reports on the internet.
Other participants in the Roundtable Meeting were Dr Nelly Nesheva, General Director
of the Bulgarian National Health Insurance
Fund, Dr. Milko Sirakov, Head of the Gynaecology Clinic at the University Obstetrics and
Gynecology Hospital “Maichin Dom” Dr Angel Kunchev, National Epidemiology Inspector for the Ministry of Health, Dr. Ljubomir Kirov, National Consultant in General Medicine,
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Media Coverage in Bulgaria
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Media Coverage in Bulgaria
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Media Coverage in Bulgaria
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Media Coverage in Bulgaria
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Media Coverage in Bulgaria
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