Twinning Bulgaria: The first study visit to Italy was carried out

The Twinning Bulgaria “Strengthening of the National Surveillance System for Communicable Diseases” which has been implemented by the ISS - Higher Institute for Health under the institutional leadership of the Italian Ministry of Health and the technical assistance of Formez, aims at strengthening the epidemiological surveillance system in Bulgaria and in particular, at improving the laboratories qualified in the diagnosis of communicable diseases and their networking for rapid and effective reporting as well as at ensuring the integration of the Bulgarian system with the European network.
The project foresees 650 short-term mission days for activities of training, on-the-job secondment and technical assistance to the Bulgarian National Centre of Infectious and Parasitic Diseases (NCIPD) which is the beneficiary of this project. Furthermore, three study visits have been foreseen for 16 functionaires: the first one was carried in Rome by the laboratories of the Department for Infectious, Parasitic and Immunomediated Diseases of the ISS.
During this initial 5-day study visit, the five micro-biologists from the NCIPD who are responsible for the National Laboratories of Reference in Bulgaria were assisted by their Italian colleagues who integrated the training activities carried out in Sofia in the previous months by outlining, with pragmatic approach, the general work conducted, the specific diagnosis techniques and the procedures adopted by the ISS laboratories, thus contributing to competence building and improved functioning of equivalent Bulgarian structures.
Each study visit implies a follow-up phase for assessing the training needs met and the excellent acquisition of the techniques dealt with by the Bulgarian experts . The outcome of this initial study visit was positiely evaluated by the participants both for the technical and organisational aspects but also for the useful instruments provided to better “adjust” future tours to the specific needs of participants.
The next study visits will be carried out in May and will involve 11 microbiologists, 10 of whom will be assisted by Italian laboratories and one by the Slovenian institute which is a  Centre of Excellence for the diagnosis of tick-borne disease.
The project which initially had a term of 12 months, has been extended to the end of June and will conclude with a final conference during which the results and benchmarking recently achieved through profitable collaboration between the two institutes, will be outlined. This synergy has also allowed for the elaboration of joint proposals of scientific cooperation, thus rendering the beneficiaries of this Twinning project active partners for future concepts.