OUT-PATIENT MATERNITY WARD IN PRESEVO FULLY EQUIPPED

4. February 2014.

Presevo – The out-patient maternity ward in Presevo was fully renovated and all the necessary equipment was purchased. The gynecology ward is on the ground floor of the renovated part of the building, while two rooms for labor and a stationary block are on the first floor. The maternity ward will begin operating officially in late March or early April, after the training of doctors at the Vranje health center has been completed.

According to the rules of the medical profession, ethics and humanity, the Presevo maternity ward won’t lag behind the majority of modern maternity hospitals in the country, Slavica Djukic Dejanovic, the Health Minister, said during her visit to the maternity ward.

“Women from Presevo and the surrounding area will be giving birth to their children at this modern maternity hospital, which, according to the rules of the medical profession, ethics and humanism, isn’t inferior to the maternity hospitals in the European countries", said the Minister of Health, Slavica Djukic Dejanovic.

The Head of the EU Delegation to Serbia, Michael Davenport, said that only by providing good health care and ensuring top quality conditions for the care of pregnant women and new mothers could we hope for having healthy children.

Zoran Stankovic, the President of the Coordination Body, said that he was pleased that the maternity ward was fully equipped and that the conditions provided for the birth of children there wouldn’t lag behind those at the most modern maternity hospitals in Europe.

“What is most important is that we provided the room and apparatuses, and that the professional training of four doctors from Presevo, who will be working at the maternity ward, has already started”, Mr. Stankovic said, reaffirming that the construction of the out-patient maternity ward was an example of good cooperation between the Government of Serbia, the European Union and the local self-government.

Journalists wanted to know whether the opening of the maternity ward meant that the talks between the Albanians and the Serbian governmental bodies would be resumed. Ragmi Mustafa, the Mayor of Presevo, said that the talks could continue only with Slavica Djukic Dejanovic, because that ministry had fulfilled all the provisions of the agreement on health care.

Responsible for the reconstruction of the maternity ward in Presevo are the Ministry of Health, the Coordination Body of the Government of the Republic of Serbia for the Municipalities of Presevo, Bujanovac and Medvedja and the municipality of Presevo. The reconstruction was supported by the European Union and the government of Switzerland with 250 thousand euros. Through the European Partnership with Municipalities Program (EU Progress), the European Union and the Swiss government provided an incubator, an ultra-sound device and other necessary equipment.

The maternity ward in Presevo was closed down in 1989, so that the women from the area had to travel as many as 70 kilometers to Vranje, Skopje, Gnjilane, Pristina or Kumanovo to give birth to their children. The reconstruction of the maternity lasted four years, and around a million and a half euros were invested in it. There are two delivery rooms and 12 beds at the maternity ward.

It is estimated that each year, around 400 women from Presevo could be delivered of their children there.

Source: Coordination Body