The opportunity to work in a former war zone might not appeal to everyone, but when the chance came to return to Bosnia to work on a health project, principal health consultant Andrew Rogers jumped at it. The country and its people had forged a special place in his heart when he first worked there over 12 years ago. Here Andrew reveals what he found on his arrival and how, in health terms, the country is moving forward.
Drawing up a route map
Health In All Policies is essentially based on the notion of working together and forming partnerships to meet common health goals. This concept is quite a challenge for any country to meet – but taking it to a country which has recently been in turmoil is an enormous undertaking. Andrew Rogers has recently returned from Bosnia, where he has been assisting the EU-funded project “Strengthening Public Health Institutes in BiH” to develop a country study for Health in All Policies there.
“I was really excited to be going back,” says Andrew. “In 1999 I supported the World Health Organisation’s Peace Through Health project, which was helping the country recover from the ravages of a brutal civil war. This had left a damaged and divided health system with limited resources, chronic and communicable diseases, uncertain and fluctuating demographics and political barriers. Despite this, the people I worked with were eager to move beyond these difficulties to build a new peace and take every opportunity to promote health.”
Health in All Policies is an innovative policy strategy that is gaining the interest of many governments. It recognises that improvements in health will not come from the health sector itself, but from those national ministries influencing the other main determinants – employment, housing, environment, education, transport and so on. Bosnia, along with other South East European countries, has made a commitment to adopt this approach. Andrew’s commission, therefore, was to undertake a review of the current situation in Republika Srpska, Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina and Brcko District. And to propose a ‘road map’ of the changes required in these other areas to build this new approach. NTTX is keen to continue to support developments in Bosnia Herzegovina and Andrew is now developing a dedicated Study Guide on Health in All Policies. He is also producing e-based learning materials on Health in All Policies for Bosnia, which will enable professionals and stakeholders across government departments in the three entities learn about the theory and practice of this approach in a cost-effective manner.
