The first meeting of the working group on enhancing central-level coordination for penitentiary healthcare in North Macedonia took place on 5-6 March 2024, bringing together senior officials of the Ministry of Health, the Health Insurance Fund, the Directorate for the Execution of Sanctions, as well as the Skopje Healthcare Centre which covers the largest prison in the country, Idrizovo.

This meeting puts into operation the October 2023 conclusions of the high-level discussion with the Minister of Health and the Deputy Minister of Justice. In late December 2023, the Ministry of Health appointed this working group as interim measure for co-ordinating the penitentiary healthcare.

In addition to the procedures that regulate the functioning of this working group, the participants discussed the specific steps necessary to boost the existing employment incentives, connect all prison ambulances to the national e-health system, unify the mechanism of providing medications, as well as address the necessary legislative changes.

These activities facilitate the implementation of the National Penitentiary Strategy on the Development of the Penitentiary System in the Republic of North Macedonia (2021-25).

By providing institutional support and trainings, the action “Strengthening the capacities of the penitentiary system in North Macedonia,” implemented in the framework of the joint European Union and Council of Europe programme “Horizontal Facility for the Western Balkans and Türkiye” remains the only project which supports the improvement of prison healthcare in the country.