Out of the 16 organisations targeted with the questionnaire, 5 sent out a completed response.
Slovenia: “Centre for AIDS Prevention and Vulnerable Groups” confirms that in their country there is a public health platform of NGOs, although civil society participation in public health decission making is not yet sufficient.
Slovakia: Stop Smoking NGO acknowledged that there is not a platform of public health NGOs in Slovakia, but there is indeed active cooperation between NGOs and the government, specially in the areas of tobacco and drug addiction, and this cooperation has proven to be very prolific.
Cyprus: ”The Pancyprian Organization of the Blind” states that in Cyprus NGOs work closely with the public health authorities and that even without a public health platform of NGOs the cooperation has been successful.
Estonia: Association Anti-AIDS explains that in Estonia there is a coalition of NGOs working on HIV/AIDS and that they are active at national and international level. There is not a public health NGO platform, but health NGOs work together through the Country Coordinative Mechanism which was set up by the Ministry of Social Affairs.
Hungary: according to the respondent, the NGO networking is rather sectorial (for example, Cancer League, Tobacco control organisation, drug prevention organisation). However, the Health 21 Hungarian Foundation recognised that individual NGOs are able to participate in decision making processes at national level even if there is not a public health platform of NGOs.
Latvia: the respondent, the Family Planning and Sexual Health Association “Papardes Zieds”, explains that in Latvia networking amongst health NGOs is done by sectors. There are platforms of health NGOs working on different issues, such as the Coalition on Reproductive and Sexual Health with 55 members along the country. They have noticed that it is not easy to involve the National Public Health Agency, as they are a governmental body and they cannot join NGO coallitions because it could threaten their official position (the government’s position). At this moment in Latvia, there seems to be reluctancy to set up a national public health alliance of NGOs, because they are already working in their own sectors and it seems to be successful.
