By Regulation 2021-552 of the European institutions two years ago, 5.3 billion euros were allocated for the EU4Health project for the improvement of health services not only in the European Union (EU), but also in potential member countries. Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) has already used first aid through donations in the midst of the global coronavirus pandemic, but today opportunities are opening up for our healthcare in the sphere of early disease detection, linking of healthcare institutions and similar projects that are current in the Union as well.
We think about healthcare almost always in crises, when an epidemic occurs or problems in healthcare lead to a strike, but healthcare professionals strive to bring the latest technologies and knowledge to our country. One of such undertakings is the IPA (DOC) cross-border project of three hospitals from Kotor, Dubrovnik and Mostar, chosen from among 160 applicants for the second competition.
“Since all three municipalities, all three hospitals are practically tourist centers and the transit of people is huge, of course, unfortunately, there are many traffic accidents. Therefore, the project refers to the care and improvement of the treatment of trauma patients, those who require surgery and other treatment,” said Ph.D. Zlatko Guzin, Cantonal Hospital “Dr. Safet Mujic“, Mostar.
“I think we announced, recently, when we received two specialized vehicles for the transport of vaccines precisely with the support of the EU, which will not only be valuable in terms of response to covid but will also be valuable for the regular immunization program in the Republika Srpska (RS). So, in that sense, we are really grateful for all the support we have had,“stated Jela Acimovic, Institute of Public Health of RS.
The equipment and experience gained during the pandemic in healthcare are immeasurable and today they are used in everyday medical practice. But the cross-border aid projects of the EU have also brought an interesting new aspect – once acquired knowledge in obtaining European projects can be used by other institutions and even countries.
“BiH has the capacity to access such programs and to win those programs in tenders with other countries, which is very important, it shows not only the possibility of cooperation but also the possibility of using our capacities in such activities,“told Goran Cerkez, Ministry of Health of the Federation of BiH (FBiH).
