Joint Actions for the protection and improvement of public health in the Cross- Border Area

The cross border area is characterized by significant regional disparities, and the existence of strong metropolitan areas. Moreover large part of the population is rural and belongs to vulnerable groups like children and elderly. The project is aiming to increase the number of citizens covered by the improved health services and decrease the cases of Diabetes that presents a significant increase especially in children.
The main outputs within the IPA SHIELD II Project consist of:
- Medical equipment of major importance for 2 General Hospitals and 4 Health Centers in the cross-border area and more precisely: (i) the General Hospital of Kilkis, (ii) the Public Health Institution: General Hospital – Gevgelija, (iii) the Health Centers of Goumenissa, Drosato, Polykastro and Valandovo 
- Medical equipment for the implementation of the checkup days, including special sticks measuring blood sugar & blood sugar measurement devices that will be used in the 6 health institutions refered above/ Implementation of an average of 20.000 Checkups for diabetes focusing to the children and elderly people in total/
- 1 diabetes center focusing on the prevention of the disease and the information of the local population will be established and operated at the General Hospital of Gevgelija
-  4 training programmes for parents will be organized at Kilkis & Goumenissa focusing on first aid to children where 80 parents will be trained
-  A campaign focusing on diabetes and preventive health care (including a 2 minutes TV spot about diabetes - information about the scheduled check-up days in Greece)