The final conference of the "Second Serbian Healthcare Development Project" was held on December 13th, 2022

On that occasion, the Minister of Health of Republic of Serbia pointed out that "thanks to this project, which we have been patiently implementing for 7 years, thanks to a dedicated loan of 54 million euros from the World Bank, we were able to finally adopt the standards of an organized healthcare system - to start digitalization by introducing electronic prescriptions, to introduce information systems to standardize the level of healthcare services, to introduce regulations on the quality of these services, to tackle the problem of excessive use of antibiotics, to finally determine the real cost of healthcare services - the so-called national costing, to efficiently use and design the network of healthcare institutions. Ultimately, this project helped us to reach the most vulnerable categories of our society and to offer them the hand of health workers - the man in the white coat is now even more accessible to the elderly, the young, cancer patients, people with special needs, Roma people. .."

In front of the World Bank, the director of organization's office for Serbia, Nikola Pontara, addressed the attendees, who expressed his satisfaction with the results of the Second Serbian Health Development Project, and especially emphasized the exceptional cooperation and professional approach to the project activities of the entire project team. 

Coordinator of the Project Management Unit of the Ministry of Health, Dr. Biljana Kozlović, emphasized that the achieved results of the Second Serbian Health Development Project are another confirmation of the firm commitment of the Ministry of Health of the Republic of Serbia to provide modern working conditions to all healthcare workers, and efficient and quality healthcare to patients. Dr. Kozlović particularly emphasized the importance of teamwork on project activities, and on that occasion she also introduced her team members. 

Many guests of the conference were also addressed by representatives of the NURDOR association, who, on behalf of the patients, emphasized the importance of the activities of the Second Serbian Health Development Project in order to improve the position of oncology patients. 

In particular, it was highlighted that 12 technologically state-of-the-art linear accelerators (radiation therapy devices) were procured and installed within the framework of Second Serbian Health Development Project for five oncology centers (Belgrade, Sremska Kamenica, Niš, Kragujevac and Kladovo), which significantly increased the level of quality of radiation therapy for patients suffering from malignant tumors and diseases. Within the Second Serbian Health Development Project, health centers were awarded grants in the total amount of 2.3 million euros for individual projects aimed at improving primary health care, and of particular importance are the results achieved in the area of ​​controlling the use of antibiotics and antimicrobial resistance, as well as the financing of health institutions and the development proposal of the Plan for the Optimization of Health Institutions - Master Plan.   

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 The World Bank granted the Republic of Serbia a loan in the amount of 29.1 million euros for the implementation of the "Second Serbian Healthcare Development Project" (parent project) and 25 million euros for the implementation of "Additional financing for Second Serbian Health Development Project ". The project started in May 2015 and ends on December 31st, 2022. 

The project contributed to the improvement of the health care system in the area of ​​financing, efficient procurement of medicines and medical devices, quality of health care and control of selected priority non-communicable diseases