Bulgaria Adopted National Pandemic Preparedness Plan

Bulgaria's Minister of Health Prof. Kostadin Angelov, the Chairman of the National Task force against the spread of coronavirus, Major General Dr. Ventsislav Mutafchyiski and the Executive Director of Pirogov emergency hospital Prof. Asen Baltov presented the national plan of Bulgaria for pandemic preparedness, which was adopted at the weekly government meeting on December 2.

"We have adopted Bulgaria's National Pandemic Preparedness Plan," Health Minister Kostadin Angelov said during a briefing at the Council of Ministers.

"It was prepared in implementation of a decision to update the National Plan of the Republic of Bulgaria for pandemic preparedness, adopted on October 22 by the 44th National Assembly. The drafting of the plan used guidelines of the World Health Organization and the European Center for Prevention and Disease Control, existing scientific knowledge in the field and accumulated practical experience in the country to deal with previous epidemics and pandemics," the minister explained.

Bulgaria's national plan for pandemic preparedness has a general character, Angelov said, explaining that such plans will be developed if the country faces other pandemics.

"The main objectives of the National Pandemic Preparedness Plan are: to reduce morbidity and reduce mortality from pandemic infection; to provide optimal treatment options for patients; to maintain the functioning of key public sectors and services such as health, security, transport; providing constant, reliable and up-to-date information to the public about the course of the pandemic and the measures taken, " he explained.

"This is a generic plan that covers all possible pandemics. If a specific agent appears, taking into account all its charactersittics,...