Head of the EU Delegation to BiH and EU Special Representative Ambassador Johann Sattler and UNDP Resident Representative in BiH Steliana Nedera handed over today 2.000 medical visors to the Institute for the Public Health of Sarajevo Canton. The equipment was received by Sarajevo Canton Prime Minister Mario Nenadić and Head of the Sarajevo Canton Crisis HQ Aida Pilav. The procurement of the equipment was funded by the European Union as part of its programme of assistance to BiH in the fight against coronaviruse (COVID-19), implemented by UNDP BiH.
EU Ambassador Sattler said: “We have began the delivery of a total of 15.000 protective visors for medical staff across BiH. This equipment will essential as they are on the front line in the fight against the corona virus. Today we have also completed delivery of 7,500 coronavirus testing kits for clinical centers in Sarajevo, Mostar, Banja Luka and Tuzla. I am happy that in this way the EU can help BiH and its citizens to fight our common enemy. This is only the beginning, next week we continue with our help, because saving lives is now the most important thing.”
In total 15.000 visors will be delivered for the needs of medical institutions throughout BiH, by the end of next week. The visors are manufactured by a BiH company from Gorazde, and thus the European Union has also supported local production in this way.
UNDP Resident Representative Nedera said: “The UN Development Programme as part of the UN’s efforts, together with the World Health Organization, is working on offering different kinds of support to partners from BiH and is using its capabilities to fight the coronavirus. We are proud of our partnership with the European Union and that we have the opportunity to deploy our procurement and analysis capacities to jointly combat and respond quickly to this crisis.”
Prime Minister Nenadić said: “The protective visors we received today as a donation from the European Union are primarily intended for the protection of our medical staff. For us, this donation is very significant, because in this way we support domestic production and instead of import we buy domestic products.”
Head of the Crisis HQ of Sarajevo Canton Pilav said: “The donation relates to a part of the protective equipment that is necessary for our health care professionals in their daily work. We have already made a distribution list for health care institutions, which means that in this first round, each of our health care workers in the Sarajevo Canton will receive an appropriate number of face shields.”
The delivery of 7.500 coronavirus testing kits in Sarajevo, Banja Luka, Tuzla and Mostar was completed today, in cooperation with the UNDP in BiH as the implementing partner. This assistance is part of the European Union’s initial package of support for emergency medical needs in BiH in the fight against corona virus worth €2 million. A total of €7 million has been planned for this support, which includes the procurement of 80 respirators. Delivery of the first respirators is expected in the first half of April 2020.
