The University of Malta is the technical coordinator of the SMSHealth.eu Project. This is an EU funded project under the Erasmus + programme. The consortium is composed of university departments with a small state and (European) public health expertise, a public health institute and an independent non-profit think-tank from Malta, Estonia, Slovenia, Iceland and The Netherlands.
The University of Malta is represented on this project by the Institute for European Studies, with the support of the Department of Health Services Management and the Islands & Small States Institute. Professor Roderick Pace (Institute for European Studies), Dr Natasha Azzopardi Muscat (Department of Health Services Management) and Professor Lino Briguglio (Islands & Small States Institute) are the project coordinators.
To date there are no comparative studies on small states and health systems. The SMSHealth.eu Project aims therefore to fill this gap by a deep understanding of small states’ challenges and opportunities of European integration in health.
This will be achieved through comparative research across four health policy issues (cancer, health professionals’ mobility, access to medicines, rare diseases) in Estonia, Malta, Slovenia, and Iceland. The research study entails reviews of the domestic literature (particularly in the national language which may be otherwise inaccessible) as well as interviews with the main stakeholders across the identified health policy domains in the partners’ countries.
The knowledge gathered through the research will be consequently translated into actionable messages and policy advice for civil servants, politicians and professionals in Estonia, Malta, Slovenia, Iceland and beyond. In addition to this, the data gathered will be incorporated in educational activities at the master studies level. In details, at a local level educational material will be developed for use in the post-graduate degree courses at the University of Malta.
Each partner will also organise workshops on the above mentioned health policy issues, in order to validate research findings as well as to raise awareness among policy makers, civil servant, civil society and academia. The events will also allow the exchange of practices on how to address health issues at the intersection of European and national policy making, among the key stakeholders in small member states.
In this sense, the project will enhance the collaboration between research, policy and practice in Europe and beyond.
The University of Malta is responsible for the organisation of the small states workshop on access to medicines workshop, which will be held at University of Malta Valletta Campus (Aula Magna), on 27 January 2017. Key note speakers and experts on access to medicines from Malta, Estonia, Iceland and Slovenia will present their perspectives on the topics, discussing the main project’s findings with the participants.
For more information and updates, please visit the project website.
