Bulgaria and North Macedonia have signed a health cooperation plan for 2026–2028 in Sofia, the Bulgarian Ministry of Health's press office said. The plan provides for joint projects, the exchange of medical experience and partnership in healthcare and medical science.
Bulgarian health minister Katya Ivkova and North Macedonian health minister Sasho Klekovski signed it. The plan builds on an agreement between the two governments signed in Sofia on 20 October 2000.
Ivkova said the future of healthcare is not set by borders between countries, but by the ability to bring together knowledge, technology and experience for the sake of patients. She said Bulgaria can drive regional cooperation in medicine, and the aim is to turn the plan into real projects with measurable results.
"The true value of any agreement is measured not by the signatures under it, but by the benefit to people," Ivkova said.
Klekovski said the health systems of the two countries face similar problems, and that sharing experience and good practice helps find better solutions. He expects better and more accessible medical care.
"Direct contacts between hospitals and medical specialists will give a new push to our partnership," Klekovski said.
After the signing, the two ministers visited the Maichin Dom specialised hospital for obstetrics and gynaecology. Prof Ivan Kostov, the hospital's executive director and head of the Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology at Medical University – Sofia, met them. The ministers toured the neonatology clinic and learned about the care of newborns and premature babies.
Also at the visit were Dr Veselin Dyavolov, deputy director for treatment and diagnostics, and Assoc Prof Stanislava Hitrova, head of the intensive care unit at the neonatology clinic. Prof Asen Nikolov, head of the maternity clinic and chair of the Bulgarian Society of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, and Assoc Prof Irena Bradinova, head of the National Genetic Laboratory, were there too.
The talks reportedly covered prenatal diagnosis, mass newborn screening and rapid genomic diagnosis. The sides discussed joint pilot projects, sharing laboratory capacity, and adding more treatable inherited diseases to screening programmes. They also looked at partnership in robotic gynaecological surgery and gynaecological oncology.
The ministry said the visit showed how what has been agreed can work in practice through joint medical projects that benefit patients in both countries.