Baltic Sea Parliamentary Conference 2015: Important to focus on Health and Health Economy

Dialogue between the Baltic Sea Parliamentary Conference, the Lithuanian EU Commissioner for Health and Food Safety Vytenis Andriukaitis, The Northern Dimension Partnership in Public Health and Social Well-being and ScanBalt may strengthen focus on Health and Health economy in the Baltic Sea Region.

On the Picture from left to right: Marek Maciejowski (Director,NDPHS Secretariat), Vytenis Andriukaitis (EU Commisioner for Health and Food Safety), Wolfgang Blank (Chairman of ScanBalt)

The chairman of ScanBalt, Dr Wolfgang Blank, presented ScanBaltand its ongoing activities within the context of the European Strategy for the Baltic Sea Region at a meeting of the Baltic Sea Parliamentary Conference Standing Committee 23 January in Brussels.

He  underlined the role of Life Sciences and Health as technological and economic drivers of knowledge based economies and for a competitive Baltic Sea region.

The BSPC Standing Committee is presently lead by Mecklenburg–Vorpommern´s parliamentary president Sylvia Bretschneider and comprises member of parliaments of the Baltic Sea Region.  During the BSPC meeting the newly appointed Lithuanian Commissioner for Health and Food Safety, VytenisAndriukaitis, outlined his strategy for the upcoming programming period.

Marek Maciejowski, Director of the Secretariat of the Northern Dimension Partnership in Public Health and Social Well-being, stressed in his intervention the general importance of health as a major pillar of modern welfare.

He stressed, inter alia, the weight that people’s health plays in ensuring well-functioning economies, and the importance of retaining Health as one of the priority areas in the  European Union´s Baltic Sea Region Strategy.

The discussion about ongoing and upcoming projects in the framework of life sciences and health will be continued at the24th BSPC annual conference 30 August – 1 September 2015 inRostock.