Author:
Fonet
Eight vehicles were delivered to the Belgrade institute for blood transfusion, while the institutes in Novi Sad and Nis benefited from four vehicles each.
The donation will help Serbia’s main blood transfusion service centres improve voluntary blood donation, said Serbian Minister of Health Tomica Milosavljevic. The assistance project for Serbia’s national blood transfusion service is an important strategic project which is expected to help establish a sustainable system that will meet international standards in blood transfusion and blood product production and distribution, Milosavljevic explained.
According to European Agency for Reconstruction (EAR) Belgrade centre head Adriano Martins, the donation is only a segment of a wider project of support for the Serbian health sector, financed by the European Union and carried out by the EAR.
The assistance project for Serbia’s national blood transfusion service, launched in the fall of 2002, aims to help Serbia increase supplies of blood and blood products, raise the number of voluntary blood donors and improve conditions for both persons who donate and receive blood, said Martins.
The EAR is currently evaluating bids in tenders for the purchase of €2.5 million worth of blood transfusion equipment and construction work on Serbia’s leading blood transfusion institutes, he added.
As part of the project, the EAR will also help train medical workers to use the equipment, said Martins, adding that the agency will also support the national blood donation campaign in Serbia.