Marking the World Health Day (set on the 7th of April), the first Slovenian national conference “A Healthy Connection – combining strengths for people’s health” (Zdrava povezava) took place in GR – Ljubljana Exhibition and Convention Centre on the 9th of April 2019. The conference was organised by the Slovenian Ministry of Health in cooperation with National Institute for Public Health.
Health Minister of Republic of Slovenia, Aleš Šabeder, held the opening speech to the conference. At the conference, 85 programmes and projects, that were carried out by 75 different non-governmental and other organisations and co-financed by the Ministry of Health, were presented. The conference was particularly intended for everyone working in interdepartmental programmes in various ministries and institutions, county representatives, NGO representatives, and decision makers.
Kongres Magazine talked to Urška Šturman from the Public Relations Service at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Republic of Slovenia about the conference and about the Ministry’s decision for the GR – Ljubljana Exhibition and Convention Centre as the venue of the conference.
Q: How many people attended the conference?
We had approximately 300 participants, among them majors, directors of health and social care centres, journalists, representations of WHO.
Q: What was the highlight of the conference?
The aim of the first National Conference “Healthy Connection” was to present projects and programs of NGOs and other public health institutions, co-financed by the Ministry of Health of the Republic of Slovenia in the years 2017 to 2019. The highlights of the conference were: to present the activities and the work of the NGOs, to the wider public, and also to all relevant stakeholders; networking; and to find possibilities for further cooperation.
Q: Why did you choose GR – Ljubljana Exhibition and Convention Centre as a venue of the 1st Conference and are you planning to organise the future events there as well?
As a public entity, we are obligated to find provider for services based on the public call. Therefore at least 3 equal providers have to be notified of the event and they have to send us their offer. We have to choose the best on (usually, we make the decision on the basis of the best price). In this particular case, the GR – Ljubljana Exhibition and Convention Centre, was the only bidder who had big enough conference hall and other facilities, to organize the event this size at the proposed date. We have had really good experiences in the past with the collaboration with the GR and we are looking forward for a possible future cooperating with them, since they have shown high level of professionalism and preparedness to help.
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Another event organised by Slovenian Ministry of Health
In the first half of June a three-day Health Equity Conference, under the auspices of the World Health Organisation, will take place. The international conference, organised in collaboration of Slovenian Ministry of Health, National Institute of Public Health, and World Health Organisation, will focus on health equity, gender equality and the right to the highest attainable standard of health. The conference will take place in GR’s halls on 11-13 June 2019.
