The fate of 100 respirators, which were imported to our country a year ago by the company from Srebrenica “Srebrena malina”, formerly known for agricultural projects, continues to attract great public attention.
At the time of the court dispute, there is also a painful process related to the alleged treatment of patients at the Sarajevo University Clinical Center (KCUS) with disputed respirators. After the media publication of the anesthesiologist’s letter to the KCUS management, the treatment of these devices elsewhere in the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina (FBiH) is in focus.
Respirators procured for the health system of FBiH by the company “Srebrena malina” are not being used in Tuzla.
“We received 25 respirators and they are not in use, considering that we have a sufficient number of other devices,” said the director of the Tuzla University Clinical Center (Tuzla UKC), Vahid Jusufovic.
Respirators that were imported from China, due to which the three leaders of the fight against the pandemic in FBiH and their chosen importer, a TV presenter, Fikret Hodzic, ended up in court, so now they are left to collect dust in Gracanica.
“Our hospital has a total of six respirators, five of which were donated by the Federal Department of Civil Protection. Since we are not a COVID hospital until today no device has been used, both donated, and the one we had in our institution before, ” told Jusuf Hodzic, director of the General Hospital in Gracanica.
Back in November, the University Clinical Hospital in Mostar (SKB) refused a donation of Chinese respirators procured through “Srebrena malina”. At that time, the Management of SKB Mostar explained that the decision on the donation rejection was based exclusively on the position of the profession.
Head of the Department of Anesthesia, Resuscitation and Intensive Care at SKB Mostar, prim. mr. sc. Zoran Karlovic told at the time that the hospital did not refuse the donation, but “does not want to accept respirators that are unusable or can even be deadly when used”.
“These are second-rate devices that are intended for catastrophes or I don’t even know what. They deliver 300 milliliters at one point and 900 milliliters at another, which means that the device could literally kill a person,” Karlovic stated.
Karlovic’s colleagues from the Cantonal Hospital “Dr. Safet Mujic” had a similar attitude, so they refused respirators, saying that they were transport respirators that can damage the lungs of patients.
“We don’t need that. God forbid that someone starts treating patients with such devices, no one would survive,” Mehmed Haznadar, head of the Anesthesia Department at another Mostar hospital, told the media.
Knowing the numbers of patients on respirators in Sarajevo, the real question is to what extent these respirators are being used, and to what extent their statements justify the disputed procurement.
The latest bulletin of the Institute of Public Health of the Canton Sarajevo (CS) states that there are 14 patients on respirators, seven at the KCUS and seven at the General Hospital. Knowing how many respirators from top manufacturers these institutions have, the real question is whether they need the suspicious ones, Klix.ba writes.
E.Dz.
