Skopje, 14 October 2022 (MIA) – The European Commission’s presentations on Chapter 28 – Consumer and Health Protection concluded the explanatory screening of Cluster 2 – Internal Market, said the Secretariat for European Affairs (SEA) on Friday. Consumer and health protection is one of the most complex and challenging issues of the integration process., said SEA in a press release. Deputy Chief EU Negotiator, Drita Abdiu-Halili underlined that in the past years North Macedonia has adopted numerous amendments to the national legislation and novelties in the institutional organization based on the recommendations by experts from the specific areas. “In this regard, we can list some of them – the new consumer protection legislation has been adopted by the Government and is now in parliamentary procedure. This legislation contains the new EU directives from 2019, the Government established the Consumer Protection Council consisting of members of state administrative bodies, whose expertise is related to consumer protection, consumer health, and a representative of the economic chambers,” notes SEA. In the past three years, it adds, the public health system had to deal with the consequences of the Covid 19 pandemic. The crisis demonstrated the importance of public health. In 2021, the Government adopted the 2021-2030 Health Strategy, which contains guidelines for future development of the health system, as well as for the improvement of the population’s health. “The center for epidemiological monitoring and health crisis management was created on the basis of the continuous warning system of epidemiological information and works 24/7. In extremely difficult conditions in the health facilities due to the pandemic, we have made great strides in the field of transplantation, where a heart transplant was performed for the first time. Besides that, plans for transplantation of other organs are being implemented,” says SEA. In addition, the Secretariat for European Affairs informs that the European Commission representatives presented the new set of EU directives and regulations related to consumer protection, health protection, communicable diseases, cross-border health risks, as well as the public and environmental factors affecting the health of the population. ad/ik/