The Health Committee was briefed and discussed measures to improve the work of the "Fund for Treatment of Children Abroad" Centre

An internal audit of the fund for the periods during which its directors were Pavel Alexandrov and Iva Stankova has shown that the lack of precise regulation of the relationship between external experts and the fund has led to delays in the provision of advice, said Health Minister Tanya Andreeva. There are cases where the submission of expert opinions was delayed between 1 and 54 days. A serious problem for both periods is the coordination between the Fund and the hospitals abroad, as submission of bids, determination of patient admission or examination dates can not be regulated by the Fund and are directly dependent on the hospital. The stipulated rules and the internal control procedures in place do not sufficiently provide for achieving the objectives of the Fund for organizational and financial support of Bulgarian citizens up to the age of 18, the Minister said.

According to Tanya Andreeva, from now on it should be consider what will be the budget of the Fund for Treatment of Children Abroad so that it could carry out its activities and how to regulate the process of payment for medical devices as an ever increasing share of the total resources is spent on medical products. She expressed concern over the possibility for the center to become a mini version of the NHIF. Minister Andreeva said that at present there is no candidate for director of the Fund for Treatment of Children Abroad.

In response to a topical question in plenary, the Minister of Health stated that in 2009 work has begun on the register of mentally ill, however it has stalled and the process needs to be rebooted. Tanya Andreeva did not commit to a timeframe when the register will be ready, but pointed out that it might be ready in the fall.

With 10 votes "in favor" and six abstentions the Health Committee supported the National Health Strategy 2014-2020 and proposed to the National Assembly to accept it.