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The Government of the Republic of Serbia

In the service of citizens

EU finances training of employees in blood transfusion centres in Serbia

Belgrade, 30 May 2006

Serbian Minister of Health Tomica Milosavljevic said today that a draft law on transfusion, defining the field of activity and responsibilities of transfusion centres, will soon enter the parliamentary procedure.

Author: FoNet

Speaking at a news conference dedicated to the termination of the project "EU assistance to the Serbian national transfusion service," Milosavljevic pointed out that safe blood is a duty and responsibility of the transfusion service.

The Minister specified that during the project the Ministry prepared the guides to good clinical practice, brochures for blood donors, minimum standards for collecting, testing and processing blood, and that it also set the prices of blood and blood products in order to secure a better way of financing the service.

According to the Minister, institutes and centres are equipped with state-of-the-art computers and medical equipment and the first single database has been introduced, while the motivational campaign "Your five minutes is someone else's life" has been proclaimed the best non-profit campaign in 2005.

Milosavljevic recalled that the agreement on cooperation between the Serbian Ministry of Health and the European Agency for Reconstruction (EAR) was concluded in October 2002 and that it covers technical, strategic and financial assistance.

He said that the EU, through the EAR, invested in this project some €5.5 million, of which more than €3.5 million was used for equipment and service development.

The main beneficiaries of EU assistance are the Serbian Institute for Blood Transfusion, as well as blood transfusion centres in Novi Sad and Nis, which got a new building, and 16 vans with equipment for taking blood were purchased.

Head of EAR medical programmes Matias Raynke announced today that the EU will invest €4.5 million over the next three years in the education programme of employees in transfusion centres in Serbia.

He explained that the Union will finance the training of some 1,800 workers in order to secure that the newly set standards, recommendations and guidelines in this field be applied in practice.