Today, the USAID Serbia Mission Director Brooke Isham and UNDP Serbia Resident Representative Yakup Beris together with the Acting Director of the Primary Health Care Center (PHCC) ‘Zvezdara’ dr Aleksandra Mitrovic visited the premises of the pediatric ward in the health station Mali Mokri Lug. Thanks to a donation from the American people, these premises have been fully equipped with medical devices to improve the health care of the youngest population in this local community.

The USAID donation consists of scales for measuring height and weight, blood pressure measuring devices, stethoscopes, ECG device, accessories for small surgical interventions, as well as necessary small equipment such as thermometers, neurological hammers, and furniture. This equipment will be used for physical examinations of children with acute and chronic diseases, as well as for preventive examinations and vaccination.

USAID Mission Director in Serbia, Brooke Isham said that this donation is part of the more than $12 million dollars in assistance that the U.S. Government has provided to help Serbia to mitigate the impact of COVID-19 and provide better health services for its people, and added: “I think it is important to note that much of the support for health services we provided to Serbia – like the fourteen ambulances, the various types of equipment like x-ray machines and oxygenators and the renovated facilities here and at facilities like Batut and INEP and throughout the country – can, and will, continue to be used by Serbian healthcare professionals for years to come.”

“All citizens have a right to quality and accessible health care, and distance cannot be an obstacle. In the last eight months, we opened the ORL Outpatient Unit in Mirijevo and two Diabetic Counseling Units. At the initiative of citizens of Mali Mokri Lug, and with the support from USAID and UNDP, today we opened what is the most important for our youngest- pediatric ward", said Primary Health Care Center ‘Zvezdara’ Acting Director dr Aleksandra Mitrovic.

“Available and quality health care is one of the key elements that show us the level of development in a society, in addition to access to education and standard of living”, said UNDP Serbia Resident Representative Yakup Beris, and added: “The COVID-19 has further reminded us of the importance of quality and accessibility of health care. Thanks to partnership with the USAID, UNDP was able to assist Serbia to fully recover from the COVID-19 crisis and to become better prepared for similar challenges in the future.”

This donation of equipment to PHCC ‘Zvezdara’ is a part of the "Together against COVID" project, funded by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and implemented by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP). The project was realized in partnership with the Government of Serbia, which has identified investments to help strengthen healthcare and research facilities as priority areas for support.