On June 3–7 NATO Committee of Chiefs of Military Medical Services was convening in Brussels, Lithuania was represented by the Head of the Joint Military Medical Command of the Defence Staff of the Lithuanian Armed Forces Lt Col Inga Jancevičienė in the plenary session. The event focussed on medical support provision to collective defence and identification of challenges: shortage of medical personnel, logistical shortfalls, medical lift, mass casualty emergency control. Among the topics discussed was application of medical planning and readiness to ensure that the effectiveness of medical support meets NATO collective defence requirements.
Cooperation between the civilian and military institutions is one of the key enablers of an uninterrupted and quality medical support. Participants underscored the necessity of an urgent and integrated approach of civilian institutions to emergency readiness given the changed strategic circumstances, especially the Russian aggression in Ukraine. This format of collective NATO dialogue enhanced ties among the senior civilian and military medical leaders in healthcare, increase general understanding of challenges and set the basis for mutual understanding in those areas that would further require civil-military cooperation.
Military medics of the Lithuanian Armed Forces actively cooperate with the Ministry of Health and civilian healthcare institutions, therefore they were able to share with the Allies the experience in the overall medical support planning, joint exercises and projects conducted in Lithuania.
