Dear Ms. Nikoleishvili,

 

Thank very much you for informing us.

 

We are sorry to hear that the delegation from Georgia is no longer able to attend the WHO Barcelona course but we fully understand.

 

I will get in touch with our Country office in Georgia about the registration fee.

 

Kind regards,

 

Ruth Oberhauser

Programme Assistant

WHO Barcelona Office for Health Systems Strengthening

Division of Health Systems and Public Health

WHO Regional Office for Europe

Sant Pau Art Nouveau Site, Nostra Senyora de la Mercè Pavilion

Sant Antoni María Claret 167, 08025 Barcelona, Spain

Tel.: +34 93 611 4092

oberhauserr@who.int   www.euro.who.int/barcelona

 

 

 

 

 

 

Dear Sir/Madam,

I would like to kindly address you on behalf of the delegation of Georgia (Ms. Tinatin Khardziani; Mr. Zaal Kapandze; Mr. Beqa Jakeli; Ms. Elene Zhorzholadze) regarding the upcoming Barcelona Course.

It would be their great pleasure to attend this most useful course, but unfortunately, due to the ongoing epidemiological situation, the delegation of Georgia is no longer able to visit Barcelona.

Please, accept our most sincere apologies for the inconvenience the cancelation of the visit might cause.

As it is mentioned in the letter below, we will wait the pay back of the registration fee.

In addition, please be informed that the notification regarding the cancelation of reservations at Ayre Hotel Rosellón has already been sent.

Thank you once again for giving such a great opportunity to participate in this course and sorry for the inconvenience.

Kind regards,

 

Maia Nikoleishvili MPA

 

Acting Head of International Relations and Protocol Division of Administration

Ministry of IDPs from the Occupied Territories, Labour, Health and Social Affairs of Georgia

Address: 144 Tsereteli ave., 0159 Tbilisi, Georgia

Tel.: +995 32 2510034 (0803)

Cell phone: +995 577272713

E-mail: mnikoleishvili@moh.gov.ge

 

 

Dear participants,

 

We would like to inform you about our preparations for the WHO Barcelona course on health financing for UHC in light of the current outbreak of the novel coronavirus.

 

We are continuously assessing the situation in close collaboration with the Catalan health authorities and the WHO Regional Office in Copenhagen. Our current assessment suggests that we go ahead with our preparations for the course and we expect it to take place as scheduled. We remain on a high-level of alert and will revisit this decision in case of an outbreak in Catalonia or an official guidance by authorities or WHO regarding cancellation of events of this type.  

 

We would like to share with you one important factor in our decision making. There is significant cost-sharing by participants (or their employers) paying for travel, accommodation and per diem costs of attending this event. This is the case for majority of participants. As the official call for cancellation of conferences for health professionals issued by the regional health authority -as of today- does not include this type of event, we feel obliged to leave it to each individual participant to make the decision on attendance as it implies potential financial consequences for the participant or his/her employer. At this point, we have no sufficient justification to make that call ourselves. 

 

We would like to inform you that we are developing our preparedness and response plan for the course. This includes prevention measures and standard procedures for suspected cases of infection as per guidance from local health authorities. We will do everything at our disposal to reduce the risk of infection during the course. As course organizers, we follow the official guidance by WHO for events of this type. There is also a brief guide for meeting participants which we attach for your careful review.

 

If you feel uncomfortable about coming to the course or your personal/professional circumstances no longer permit your attendance, we will understand your cancellation and pay back the registration fee. Unfortunately, we do not have the means to compensate you for the potential financial losses incurred by cancelling your travel and accommodation.

 

As we are making a significant effort to reduce the risk of infection during the course, we would like to ask you to reconsider your participation if you or any of your contacts have recently travelled to a region/location affected by the COVID-19 outbreak. If you are unwell - even with mild symptoms -, have fever, dry cough or difficulty breathing, we ask you not to attend the course.

 

We would like to assure you that we are monitoring the situation closely. We will make another assessment early next week and keep you informed.  

 

Kind regards,

 

Tamás Evetovits

Head of Office