100 intensive care monitors, 50 anaesthesia and respiratory monitoring apparatus and 70 respirators were bought together by the European Union and Norwegian Embassy to Serbia.
The first 40 out of 100 monitors intended for intensive care purchased from the European Union and the Kingdom of Norway have arrived in Serbia and will be delivered to health care facilities as a complement to existing equipment in semi-intensive and intensive care units. Also, with the support of the EU and Norway, Serbia will receive 50 anaesthesia devices that include respiratory monitoring and comprehensive monitoring of vital parameters. Three such devices have already been delivered, while 47 are to arrive during the next several days. The value of this equipment is € 3.2 million.
The President of the Republic of Serbia, Aleksandar Vučić, thanked the donation and said that united we can overcome the pandemic. “I would like to thank the European Union and the Kingdom of Norway for the donation. Considerable assistance is now available in respirators, monitors and anaesthesia machines. This is important because this will measure the strength of a healthcare system. What is our wish, and that is why I am especially grateful to the EU and Norway, is that we will be proud of the healthcare system in the future. Throughout Serbia, we will see that people can feel a much higher level of health care than they did before yesterday.
Long live solidarity and our friendship, and I believe that the citizens of Serbia will be able to see how much it has benefited us, though it may not be the best word to describe, friendship and how only we can overcome not only this disease but also the many challenges ahead. during the summer, but also during the fall and winter, ”said President of the Republic of Serbia Aleksandar Vucic, during a visit to a part of the arrived medical equipment in the warehouse of Milsped company in Krenješevci.
70 respirators needed for critical care of Covid-19 positive patients should arrive to Serbia at the beginning of May. The total value of these devices, of which the EU financed the purchase of 50 and the Kingdom of Norway 20 pieces, amounts to EUR 1.3 million.
As part of its “global response” to fighting the current pandemic, worth € 15.6 billion, the European Union has committed initial support to Serbia of € 93 million, and part of that assistance of nearly € 5 million involves the procurement of this essential medical equipment.
“Since the beginning of the crisis, the EU has worked round the clock to respond to Serbia’s requests and to procure and transport critical medical equipment for Serbia’s health institutions, in the spirit of solidarity and cooperation. We immediately allocated 93 million Euros, of which 15 million to fund immediate procurement and cargo transport of the most urgently-needed medical supplies. Thanks to this funding there have been barely a single day without critical medical material transported or bought by the EU arriving in Serbia.
Last week I welcomed the arrival of 800.000 protective masks and other material. I am honoured today to attend this ceremony with the President to mark the delivery of additional critical material: overall 125 intensive care devices (50 intensive care monitors, 50 respirators and 25 devices for monitoring, ventilation and anaesthesia), a part already arrived today, along with 100 containers, 300 thermometers, 100 oxygen concentrators and reagents for tests, which are already being distributed.
These are the results of a 4.9 million euro package of EU support to Serbia with UNOPS. While providing urgent help in the critical phase, we are also continuing to strengthen Serbia’s healthcare system. This equipment will continue to be very useful in the future. This is in line with the support that the EU has provided to Serbia’s healthcare system over the past two decades. The EU will continue to stand by Serbia and its people for the future. Our solidarity and cooperation embrace a wide range of immediate initiatives and actions to fight Covid and to support the economic recovery in Serbia and the WB region, which the EU is funding with 3.3 billion euros, as announced yesterday by the President of the European Commission. I’m glad that next week the EU Western Balkans Summit will confirm once again the special solidarity and the common path of the EU and this region, and Serbia in particular“, said Sem Fabrizi, Head of the EU Delegation to Serbia.
At the outset of the crisis, the Kingdom of Norway identified emergency funding for the fight against the virus corona. “Our solidarity with Serbia has deep roots in the long friendship of the two nations, so I am extremely pleased that we can help combat the crisis by enhancing the capacity of intensive care units. We waited eagerly this day as the delays were caused by very difficult conditions in the international market for sophisticated medical equipment. But all these valuable devices that have arrived and will arrive in Serbia in the coming days will significantly improve the capacity for treatment of patients in Serbia, and Norway is ready to contribute to long-term measures, “said Norwegian Ambassador to Serbia Jern Eugen Jelstad.
All medical equipment donated by the European Union and Norway, primarily respirators, monitors for monitoring vital functions of patients, as well as anaesthesia and supportive respiratory therapy, is intended for shorter or longer respiratory support in patients suffering from acute respiratory distress, spasm or obstruction, so this support to the health system in Serbia contributes not only to the suppression of the COVID-19 virus, but to its comprehensive and regular functioning as well.
The procurement of this medical equipment is being conducted by the United Nations Office for Project Services – UNOPS, which has launched the Emergency Procurement Mechanism globally.