Q:
A:
Vaccines against new flu early in 2010
Belgrade,
7 October 2009
Minister of Health Tomica Milosavljevic in an interview for today’s edition of the Vecernje Novosti daily voiced his hope that Serbia will be delivered the vaccine against the new flu caused by the H1N1 virus early next year.
The Serbian government’s official web site gives excerpts of his interview.
Will the working group contemplate procuring an additional amount of the vaccine? The working group’s stance is that all citizens should receive the vaccine, of that there is no doubt. It is only a question of whether everyone should be inoculated immediately or over the next two years. However, every vaccine carries a certain risk of undesirable consequences, and this one is no exception. The more people are inoculated, the larger incidence of those effects will be. It is a huge question as to which category of citizens the issuing of the vaccine should be considered. We must be very careful because the vaccine is not cheap. The dosage will cost several Euros.
When will the first patients from Serbia be able to enter the Eurotransplant waiting list?
I hope that last Thursday I managed to persuade the Eurotransplant Managing Board that Serbia should become a member of this organisation. I expect that the preliminary agreement will be signed before the middle of next year, when we will be able to include patients from Serbia on the Leiden list, even though Serbia will not have become a full member by then.
Increasing the participation in medical treatment:
It is evident that next year we will have to increase the prices of medical services and medications for citizens perhaps even several times. This is the only way to maintain the current level of health care.
What does the World Bank recommend?
The World Bank report "How to Achieve More with Less Funds" reminds Serbia of the path it should take. The World Bank and the IMF confirmed that we have achieved a great deal, but we still have to do more.
Where will you start?
First we have to change the way of financing in the health sector, which I hope will be done in 2010. By rewarding satisfactory work and punishing inefficiency we will achieve better results.
What about the proposal to reduce the availability of new technologies?
We have not even attained the optimum level so we cannot stop moving in that direction. Equipment will be purchased as needed. We cannot stop procuring respirators when we are threatened by a flu pandemic.
Will the working group contemplate procuring an additional amount of the vaccine? The working group’s stance is that all citizens should receive the vaccine, of that there is no doubt. It is only a question of whether everyone should be inoculated immediately or over the next two years. However, every vaccine carries a certain risk of undesirable consequences, and this one is no exception. The more people are inoculated, the larger incidence of those effects will be. It is a huge question as to which category of citizens the issuing of the vaccine should be considered. We must be very careful because the vaccine is not cheap. The dosage will cost several Euros.
When will the first patients from Serbia be able to enter the Eurotransplant waiting list?
I hope that last Thursday I managed to persuade the Eurotransplant Managing Board that Serbia should become a member of this organisation. I expect that the preliminary agreement will be signed before the middle of next year, when we will be able to include patients from Serbia on the Leiden list, even though Serbia will not have become a full member by then.
Increasing the participation in medical treatment:
It is evident that next year we will have to increase the prices of medical services and medications for citizens perhaps even several times. This is the only way to maintain the current level of health care.
What does the World Bank recommend?
The World Bank report "How to Achieve More with Less Funds" reminds Serbia of the path it should take. The World Bank and the IMF confirmed that we have achieved a great deal, but we still have to do more.
Where will you start?
First we have to change the way of financing in the health sector, which I hope will be done in 2010. By rewarding satisfactory work and punishing inefficiency we will achieve better results.
What about the proposal to reduce the availability of new technologies?
We have not even attained the optimum level so we cannot stop moving in that direction. Equipment will be purchased as needed. We cannot stop procuring respirators when we are threatened by a flu pandemic.
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