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On 23 July 2024, the Minister of Civil Affairs of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Dubravka Bošnjak, will sign in Brussels the Agreement between the European Union and Bosnia and Herzegovina on the country's accession to the EU4Health Program.

The EU4Health Program, with a budget of €5.3 billion, is being implemented from 2021 to 2027. This budget is the largest compared to all previous cycles of the European Union's health program.

Minister Bošnjak emphasizes that this program is a significant opportunity for healthcare in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Two rounds of public calls are open, and she hopes that many will be attracted to apply for EU grants.

The budget increase has been approved to strengthen the health systems of countries to respond to the crisis caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, their preparedness for future crises, and to address health challenges.

It is important to note that the Agreement provides for temporary application, which will be valid from the date of signing until its entry into force.

This step allows Bosnia and Herzegovina to participate in the calls from the Program for 2024.

Funds can be applied for by entities from the public and private sectors operating in the field of healthcare in Bosnia and Herzegovina.

These can be healthcare institutions, professional bodies in the field of public health, associations, foundations and networks of health professionals, educational institutions, research institutes, social enterprises in the field of healthcare, and non-governmental organizations.

Individuals are not eligible to apply for funds under the EU4Health program.

At the end of last year, the European Commission adopted the Annual Work Program for the EU4Health Program for 2024. The Work Program covers various areas of action: crisis preparedness, cancer, health promotion and disease prevention, health systems, health workforce, and digital transformation.

To finance actions in the mentioned areas for 2024, the European Commission has provided €752.4 million.

The largest part of the mentioned budget (64.5%) will be allocated to actions in the field of "Crisis Preparedness," which will be implemented by HERA (Directorate-General for Health Emergency Preparedness and Response Authority).

Forms of financial support from the 2024 Work Program include: action grants and operating grants awarded through open calls for proposals, direct grants to defined beneficiaries (e.g., European Reference Networks), joint actions, and other direct grants to competent health institutions nominated by member states and eligible countries outside the EU.

Potential applicants from Bosnia and Herzegovina should carefully follow public calls, the topics to which the calls relate, seek partners from BiH and other EU member states or associated Program countries who are also interested in applying for a specific call or have already started writing project proposals for a specific area.

Detailed information on application conditions, which include the minimum number of applicants or countries that must be represented in the consortium applying for a specific project, is contained in the document prepared by the European Health and Digital Executive Agency (HaDEA) with each call, and is published on the EU Funding and Tenders Portal.

It is important that interested applicants in Bosnia and Herzegovina have ready teams in time that will work on the preparation of projects, because in addition to a good idea, it is necessary to meet strict conditions that include a good documentary basis to obtain funds from European funds.

On the website of the European Health and Digital Executive Agency (HaDEA), two rounds of calls for project proposals under the EU4Health program for 2024 have been published so far.

The first call, published on May 29, relates to topics such as: next-generation respiratory protection, support for innovative manufacturing technologies and processes in the Union for the production of medicines, support for the development of new antiviral agents, and a call for the European Vaccine Development Center.

The deadline for submitting project proposals for the mentioned types of calls is September 5, 2024.

The second round of calls, published on June 20, relates to the topic of cancer, and the deadline for submitting project proposals is October 10.

Other calls related to other topics from the 2024 Program will be published on the HaDEA website and the EU Funding and Tenders Portal by the end of the year.

The EU4Health Program provides significant financial support for the improvement of health systems in EU member states and associated member states.

This program contributes to achieving four general goals and ten specific objectives that represent key areas of intervention in the fields of improving and nurturing health, protecting people from serious cross-border health threats, improving access to medicines, medical devices, and products relevant to crisis situations, as well as strengthening health systems in participating countries.

The Ministry of Civil Affairs will continue to coordinate activities related to the accession and participation of Bosnia and Herzegovina in the EU4Health Program, in cooperation with relevant institutions in the country.