Participants signed a charter on further cooperation and implementation of agreed projects, which Croatian Health Minister Neven Ljubicic said was a continuation of a meeting held in Dubrovnik, Croatia, in 2001. He added the charter expanded cooperation and provided firm implementation frameworks.
What is significant for Croatia, which has begun European Union entry negotiations, is the strengthening of regional cooperation, which has been confirmed by the Skopje meeting, said Ljubicic.
Under the charter, Southeast Europe countries will continue to cooperate in controlling infectious diseases, strengthening mental health services, providing quality inoculations, safe blood, blood product, and quality food products, implementing the Norwegian programme on the reduction of infant mortality and on mothers' health, and in preventing AIDS.
In attendance were health ministers from Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Moldova, Romania, Serbia and Montenegro, and Macedonia, representatives of the World Health Organisation, the Council of Europe and its Development Bank, which organised the conference together with the Macedonian government. The conference was financed by the Stability Pact for Southeast Europe.