INDICATORS

implementation process. There was also an expressed need for more guidance, funding,
recommendations, and even regulations by the Commission and DG SANCO.
No doubt partly because of the “unofficial” nature of the network of contact persons,
no reply was received to the ECHIM Survey from one country. A reply from one other
country was received too late to include its information in this report. Consequently no
Bilateral Discussions were conducted with the contact persons of these countries. In the
next phase, extra attention must be paid to establishing and maintaining contacts with
these two countries.
The ECHIM actions (development of the ECHI shortlist and the Documentation
Sheets, the building of the network of contact persons and the outcomes of the Country
Reports, ECHIM Survey and the Bilateral Discussions) have laid a solid foundation
for the country specific implementation plans. The plans drafted by the national teams
under the supervision of the contact persons will be revised and further developed in
the next phase of the implementation process. The implementation plan will comprise
a work plan describing the implementation process as a whole. It will also incorporate
a prioritised list of data and indicators, and for each of them a full outline of how
and by whom the national system should be developed. Nevertheless, as anticipated,
many more discussions will be needed in order to initiate and complete the national
implementation process in practice.
The initial findings of the Country Reports, ECHIM Survey and Bilateral Discussions
are compiled in Annex 4 of this report under the name Country Specific Section. For 29
countries from which the requested information was received, the core points are listed
in standardised form: indicator data availability, situation of data sources, possibility of
record linkage, health reporting, main problems, expected improvements and finally
the possible solutions for implementation of the ECHI indicator system. The contact
persons have also rated their countries in terms of implementation preparedness. The
key figures and words are condensed in an “Info Box” for every country, providing an
easily accessible overview and comparison between different countries. The Country
Specific Section is intended to provide the starting point for practical implementation
work.
68