Yesterday, the Embassy of the Sovereign Order of Malta participated in the 2023 conference organized by the Romanian Representative Office of WHO led by Dr. Caroline Clarinval.

The local WHO office saw an extremely fast growth of its presence and activity in Romania both in Bucharest and in the regions in the last year. The Embassy already had a meeting with Dr. Clarinval, Dr. Silvia Gatscher, Health Operations Manager and their legal expert Mr. Andrei Dorobantu earlier in the summer. In that occasion it was discussed the possibility in the near future to collaborate to deliver healthcare education and prevention in rural areas where our Order has several volunteers.

Yesterday, the conference aimed primarily at partner authorities and embassies was joined by Dr. Diana Loreta Paun, Healthcare Presidential counsellor, the representatives of the Ministry of Health, Drug agency and the Presidents of the Medical and Paramedical Colleges. As usual also Dr. Raed Arafat, Deputy Minister of Interior and responsible for emergency response units who regularly collaborate with the Order, joined the debate.

The discussion covered both Regional WHO perspectives, Romanian WHO Country Office Programs and of course the experiences of several partners.

The Embassy contribution was focussed on recent discussion on possible collaboration in rural areas based on the experience built during the COVID pandemic and of course the experience of the Relief Corp SAMR in supporting Ukranian refugees.