Description
Bulgaria lacks a National Diabetes Register, which makes it impossible to better plan health strategies and budgets. Rare diseases are also a serious problem for healthcare professionals, patients themselves, their families, society as a whole and the health system of every country. The main priority of the project is to provide accurate epidemiological and bio-statistical data on rare diseases in Bulgaria through the establishment of a National Register. Overall objective: Improving public health through the development of healthcare information systems. Project’s expected outcomes: • Development of national health registers for Diabetes and Rare diseases. • Improvement of the activities on applied policies related to health registers for patients with Diabetes or Rare diseases. • Development of specific rules and methods in the field of specialized national health registers. • Establishing of conceptual models for development and implementation of health registers. • Pilot implementation of the developed models for Diabetes and Rare diseases registers that will be a basis for further use. • Achieving higher competence of professionals to work on pilot implemented health registers and for the health registers management. • Better information for the public on the field of implemented health registers. • Improving the national legislation for protection of people against EMF exposure and control of the sources of radiation and of the evaluation of EMF exposure • Achieving higher level of competence of the specialists. Target group(s): • Patients with Diabetes type 1 and 2 and Rare diseases • Risk families having a child with Diabetes and genetic problems • Families with a history of Diabetes and fertility problems • Pregnant women • All newborns • General population and living in urban areas with higher density of sources of RF radiation • People with concern to EMF exposure and with higher sensitivity to environmental factors
Summary of project results
Following the project activities, there has been developed and implemented 2 electronic-health registers for patients with diabetes and rare diseases. The third electronic system (web-based register) was for sources of EMF radiation – base stations for mobile communication and TV stations. The first 2 health registers improve the information provision in the healthcare system and help the realization of the national policy according to the requirements of EU, WHO for the implementation of E-Health. The third register ensures accurate information about the EMF levels in the environment for the competent state authorities and for the people. It includes 6282 sources of radiation (base stations) and 282 TV stations. For more than 60% of the base stations information about location, technical characteristics of the source, measurements, exposure assessment, the safety zones around the sources is implemented into the register for the control bodies in regional and national level. Web-based information for the general population provides information about the location of the source and exposure levels. The register of sources of EMF radiation includes special part “register of complaints” with more than 450 cases where all information about public concern was implemented. There, information about the sources of radiation around the area of concern, data of measurements, real-time data received by monitoring stations measuring for 24 hours, frequency selective measurements exist. For 22 places with “sensitive” buildings (hospitals, schools, kindergartens, etc.), also urban areas with high density of sources (more than 100 regions in town Sofia) such information is available. Elaboration and maintenance of public information database of sites with radiating facilities was planned to enable every citizen to obtain information about the place of mounting of the source of radiation, the levels of electrical, magnetic and electromagnetic fields, where such information exists. The electronic register of EMF sources was checked with real data mainly for sources in different regions of Sofia.
Summary of bilateral results