UNICEF continues to provide ventilators to healthcare facilities in Serbia at a time when the coronavirus virus is still spreading
Belgrade, July 1, 2020 – UNICEF has delivered 10 ventilators to the Clinical Centre of Serbia today, while in the coming days, it will deliver three to the Zvezdara Clinical Hospital and the Clinical Centre in Kragujevac. The general hospitals in Čačak, Valjevo, Užice, Novi Pazar, Kruševac and Subotica also got one ventilator each.
“The virus is not giving up, and we are not either. At the beginning of this crisis, UNICEF reacted swiftly and procured 50 ventilators for the healthcare system in Serbia. Today, the Clinical Centre received 10 state-of-the-art ventilators intended for patients of all ages and health conditions. These ventilators are fully compatible with our healthcare system. We owe a great deal of gratitude to our donors, representatives of the business community, which, despite the numerous challenges that the economy is currently facing, responded to our appeal and helped us with providing the highest quality equipment. UNICEF pays attention to each individual and all our support is focused on preserving life in difficult circumstances that the entire planet is now facing, “said Vesna Savić Đukić, Head of the Department for Cooperation with the Private Sector at UNICEF Serbia.
Director of the Clinical Centre of Serbia, Professor Milika Ašanin, MD, expressed gratitude to UNICEF for donating ventilators to Serbia’s healthcare system.
“I want to thank UNICEF for an exceptionally important donation. The Clinical Centre of Serbia got 10 new state-of-the-art DRAGER ventilators. This is extremely important and indispensible equipment for us, and we already have a plan in which segments of the Emergency Room we are going to put them. According to the plan devised by the director of the Anesthesiology and Resuscitation Centre, five respirators will go to Shock B at the Emergency Room, while the other five will be put in the intensive care group,” said Professor Milika Ašanin.
On behalf of Clinical Centre of Serbia’s Anesthesiology and Resuscitation Centre, its director, Professor Nebojša Lađević, MD, also thanked UNICEF for the donation, and noted that the donated ventilators can perform both non-invasive and invasive mechanical ventilation and that they will “certainly be helpful in everyday work.”
With the support of a large number of donors, UNICEF has provided a significant contingent of protective and medical equipment since the beginning of the health crisis caused by the coronavirus, namely: 50 Draeger ventilators, 61 oxygen flowmeters and pulse oximeters for the most vulnerable patients, 71,900 pairs of surgical gloves, 5,200 protective aprons, 25,116 protective gowns, 99,950 surgical masks, 1,549 hazmat suits, 5,376 visors and 9,000 N95 masks for health workers who were on the first line of defense against the disease. Hygiene packages were given to 16,000 Roma families, almost 4,400 foster families, 19 residential institutions and about 2,300 people in asylum/reception centres for refugees and migrants.
Since the beginning of the outbreak until June 8, globally speaking, UNICEF has delivered more than 8 million pairs of gloves, 5.3 million surgical masks, 1.1 million N-95 ventilators, 574,870 protective gowns, 63,807 goggles, 328,739 protective shields, 482 oxygen flowmetres and 296,904 diagnostic tests to support 90 countries fighting the pandemic.