As part of a joint response to the coronavirus pandemic, the European Union Delegation and the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) in Montenegro signed a contract for procuring necessary medical equipment and personal protective equipment for the health system worth a total of 3 million euros in early April. The contract is financed from EU funds, and the procurement was conducted by UNDP in cooperation with the competent institutions.

Outbreak of COVID-19 caused by a novel coronavirus has demonstrated that public health interventions are crucial in fighting COVID -19 spread. Although they might not stop the virus in its tracks, slowing the spread of the virus — or “flattening the curve” — is vital to avoiding an overwhelmed health system and overburdened health care workers.

Therefore, the project implemented from April to December 2020, effectively supported emergency response to the COVID-19 pandemic in Montenegro, with results achieved, significantly exceeding the originally planned ones. Namely, provision of substantial quantities of high quality personal protective equipment (PPE) and medical equipment enabled, the deployed medical staff to provide adequate and timely response to COVID-19 outbreak and improve treatment and diagnosis of the patients.

Since the beginning of the project, a total of 100 hospital respirators, 10 modern X-ray devices and over 2.25 million pieces of personal protective equipment have been delivered to the Montenegrin health care system.

Medical equipment and protection equipment provided during this project has strengthened readiness of medical institutions reduce severity of disease and conduct rapid response on coronavirus outbreak in Montenegro.

Information on Grant Beneficiaries and Contractors is available here.