"The Smile of the Child" announced the launch of the "Integrated Territorial Synergies for Children Health and Protection ΙΙ - Intersyc II" project
21 February 2019
Thessaloniki, 20th of February, 2019
"The Smile of the Child" announced the launch of the "Integrated Territorial Synergies for Children Health and Protection - Intersyc II" project
"The Smile of the Child" presented the launch of the project entitled «Integrated Territorial Synergies for Children Health and Protection ΙΙ» with the acronym «INTERSYC II», during an event held on Wednesday, the 20th of February, 2019 in Thessaloniki, in the presence of representatives of the local authorities of the city as well as of the partners of the project.
The project partners are stakeholders from the public and private sectors that mainly focus on the implementation of activities aiming at improving the quality of life of children. The partners have already developed synergies within the framework of previous projects in order to address different problems that children in Greece and Bulgaria are facing.
The partners of the project are "The Smile of the Child" (Lead Partner), the Municipal Development Agency of Komotini Municipality, the Foundation "Centre Nadja" - Sandanski Branch and the Regional Department of Education – Blagoevgrad.
In his speech the President of the Board of Directors of the Organization "The Smile of the Child", Mr. Costas Yannopoulos, referred to the actions carried out by the Organization for children with health problems and stated that: «INTERSYC II is the continuation of a successful program that started a few years ago with INTERSYC I, which was awarded in Europe. With this program, we have been given the opportunity to extend the actions and offer children in Greece and Bulgaria something very important: health, prosperity, security, prevention. It is a union of forces of either the public or private sector of both countries. The Nadja Center Foundation, the Regional Department of Education - Blagoevgrad and the Municipal Development Agency of Komotini Municipality will take action in order children to have the possibility to deal with the health problem they may have preventively. We are very proud to be part of this project. The experience we have gained by having preventively examined over 100,000 children and our day-to-day actions in the field of risk prevention, such as the European Hotline for Missing Children 116000 and Amber Alert Hellas, enable us to spread our know-how to other countries".
Subsequently, the Coordinator of "The Smile of the Child" in the region of Northern Greece, Ms. Ioanna Makri, referred to the excellent implementation of the successful project of INTERSYC I. Subsequently, she presented the INTERSYC II project , its main purpose and objectives and she developed its basic idea analyzing the axes of intervention within the framework of the project.
The Director of “Centre Nadja” Foundation - Sadanski, Mrs. Rossanka Venelinova, highlighted the importance of Preventive Medicine Actions in Bulgaria, as there is no longer any health care in schools, while family doctors are unable to do preventative examinations in children. More specifically, she said: "With the INTERSYC II project we have the potential to reach thousands of children. Interest in Bulgaria was enormous. Everything is running smoothly, everything is planned and this is due to our cooperation with state agencies. The cooperation of public bodies, institutions and NGOs is very important as the one complements with the other. "
The President of the BoD of the Municipal Development Agency of Komotini Municipality, Ms. Afroditi Kareliadou, stated that: the Municipality of Komotini, through the Development Agency of K. Karatheodoris, participates with great pleasure in this project, which is the continuation of the very successful program INTERSYC. To date, more than 2.000 children have participated to the project, and they will be examined by doctors of four specialties: pediatrician, ophthalmologist, dentist and otolaryngologist. At the same time, our Agency has undertaken the organization of seminars and events aimed at informing both the parents and the educational community about the value of preventive medicine. Finally, they will be given the opportunity to be certified in first aid.
The Project Officer INTERREG V-A Greece-Bulgaria 2014-2020 Cooperation Programme for the project INTERSYC II, Ms. Dinkova Jenya, welcomed and referred to the importance of the implementation of the project.
The contribution of the project to the goals of the program lies in improving the attractiveness of the area by improving the quality of life of the residents by focusing on the target group of children. Addressing crucial social problems such as trafficking, which is linked directly to the disappearance of children, the support of families in crisis and ensuring good health for children are decisive factors in keeping the local population in its residence, strengthening the relationships between the two sides and creating a favorable environment for the development of sustainable economic activities.
The activities of INTERSYC II cover distant areas with the same and even more intensive needs of preventive medicine actions for children, especially under the current socioeconomic circumstances.
The Project is developed through two (2) main intervention axes. The axis 1 aims to actions for the protection of children in danger and to the Promotion / Training / demonstrative operation of the European Hotline for Missing Children 116000, the Amber Alert Hellas and the European Child Alert Automated System (ECAAS). The axis 2 aims to the Improvement of Health Services and Social Care Services for Children through the actions of Preventive Medicine in Greece and Bulgaria and through Educational Seminars in the field of rescue/ first aid in Greece and Bulgaria in collaboration with the National Center of First Aid.
Action in Bulgaria is underway and so far more than 2.500 children have been examined by pediatricians, ophthalmologists, dentists, ENTs and orthopedics in the regions of Sandanski and Blagoevgrad in Bulgaria. In Greece the action will take place from 04/03/2019 to 04/06/2019 in the Municipalities of Komotini, Iasmos and Maroneia - Sapon. The preventive medicine actions in the cross-border area are staffed by the specialized scientific staff of all partners: doctors, social workers, nurses, administrative staff and external collaborators, and are carried out thanks to the Multi-medical unit "Hippocrates" for Children and the Mobile Medical units of “The Smile of the Child”.
For more information:
The Smile of the Child
Tel. +30 2310 250 160
thesspress@hamogelo.gr
