On September 26th 2016, an Academic
Meeting with international participation was held “Development
of Balneology, Sea Treatment, Wellness and SPA – Educational and Scientific
Aspects”. It was organised within the
celebrations of the 10th anniversary of the establishment of the
Bulgarian Union of Balneology and SPA tourism (BUBSPA), the 55th
anniversary of the foundation of Medical University “Prof. Dr. Paraskev
Stoyanov” – Varna and the concomitant 15th anniversary of the
Faculty of Public Health.
The main purpose
of the international meeting was to trigger a discussion on possible
cooperation among all stakeholders about the development
of balneology, sea treatment, wellness, SPA and medical tourism for the
promotion of the quality of life, medical rehabilitation, primary prevention,
prevention of people at risk as well as ensuring continuity of care. In
this respect, for 3 years MU-Varna has been offering a Master’s programme in
rehabilitation, thalassotherapy, wellness and SPA.
The meeting was attended by the national
associations of balneology and SPA tourism of Germany, Switzerland, Hungary,
Iceland, Portugal, France, etc., the President of the European SPA Association
(ESPA) Mr Thierry Dubois, the ESPA Executive Director Mr Joao Pinto Barbosa,
the Deputy Mayor of the Municipality of Varna Mr Kosta Bazitov as well as
representatives of the academic circles and the hotel business. The Bulgarian
Union of Balneology and SPA tourism (BUBSPA) was represented by Mrs Siyka
Katsarova – ESPA and BUBSPA Vice President, Mrs Tatyana Angelova – Head of the
BUBSPA Medical Commission and Mrs Elena Koseva – member of the Executive Board
of BUBSPA and Executive Director of “St. Constantine and Helena Holding”. Moderators
of the meeting were Prof. Todorka Kostadinova – Vice Rector for International
Relations, Accreditation and Quality and Assoc. Prof. Emanuela Mutafova – Dean
of the Faculty of Public Health at MU-Varna.
The
meeting was concluded by signing a Memorandum of Understanding between BUBSPA and MU-Varna, in which the two parties
agree to cooperate for the improved quality of training and the subsequent
realization of the future human resources in balneological treatment and
medical tourism.
