More EU help for the health system - Oxygen concentrators

April 23 2020 | Belgrade

More EU help for the health system - Oxygen concentrators

Healthcare facilities receive new assistance and support from the European Union in medical equipment, as 100 oxygen concentrators arrive in Serbia. These are concentrators for oxygen therapy in hospital treatment, to reduce the mortality rate with hypoxaemia in COVID-19 patients.

"As we have announced in the previous days, in cooperation with the EU Delegation and UNOPS, we are continuing activities aimed at procuring the necessary medical equipment and materials that should ensure the protection of medical professionals and the best care of patients in healthcare facilities. Provided by the EU so far, we have delivered containers for patients triage as well as masks, and today oxygen concentrators, which should provide assistance to patients with serious respiratory problems while in the coming period we also expect respirators, monitors and other medical equipment", said European Integration Minister and National IPA Coordinator Jadranka Joksimovic.


During April Serbia has already received 800.000 medical protective masks, 300 contactless thermometers, and 100 equipped triage containers, already installed across Serbia's hospitals, fully funded by the EU as part of the 15 million Euro emergency response.  Additional medical equipment is scheduled to arrive in the coming days, including reagences for tests, respirators and intensive care monitors.  

''Through our emergency response support to Serbia we are helping healthcare workers and patients alike. Following the masks and triage containers, aimed at protecting those on the front line of the COVID fight, these oxygen concentrators will help reduce the mortality rate among COVID patients, as oxygen is one of the crucial elements of their therapy. Additionally, these concentrators will remain useful once the emergency is over as they can be used in general clinical therapies.

Since the beginning of the crisis there has barely been a single day without critical medical equipment being bought or transported by the EU for Serbia’s health institutions and vulnerable communities. I am proud of the immediate assistance we are providing thanks to the €15 million aid package for emergency response for Serbia funded by the European Union. What we are all aiming for now is for the health emergency to be over so Serbia can progressively return to normality, and we can focus on the economic recovery '', said Sem Fabrizi, Head of the EU Delegation to Serbia. 

Since the outbreak of the COVID 19 crisis, the European Union has been providing support to Serbia on an almost daily basis, including the transport of medical material worth 7 million euro in total, in cooperation with UNDP, and the direct procurement and transport of necessary medical equipment worth 5 million euros, in cooperation with UNOPS.

Source: Tanjug