Donation made to health centers

EU delegation chief in Serbia Vincent Degert said that the EU is continuing to support Serbia be improving the lives of Serbian citizens. At a ceremony in which 54 special transport vehicles for medical waste were donated to Serbia, Degert reminded hat the EU has been supporting the Serbian health-care sector for 10 years. Donation made to health centers “This is a part of our support which is visible,” he said, adding that Serbia produces 48,000 tones of medical waste each year and that 9,000 tons are dangerous and two-thirds are infectious. The vehicles are worth a total of EUR 600,000, and are part of a EUR 6mn donation from the IPA funds in the second phase of taking care of medical waste. “There is a high level of risk when talking about taking handling of such waste, and that is why it is important to invest special efforts in organizing the entire system well,” Degert said. He said that the project would include the installing of sterilizers with steam in medical institutions, crushers for needles and scalpels, and training for people who handle the medical waste. Health Minister Tomica Milosavljevic said that all health systems have great challenges with dealing with medical waste. “Dealing with medical waste is a very complicated and important job. Every day, our job is hard because we are working in 300 institutions that are state-owned and more than 3,000 private ones,” he said. He said that this important project is being conducted with the EU as a partner, but that the Environment and Spatial Planning Ministry and the Veterinary Administration of the Agriculture Ministry are also involved. The vehicles will be used in clinical centers in Belgrade, Novi Sad, Nis and Kragujevac, as well as institutions in Leskovac and Subotica. Degert and Milosavljevic in one of the donated vehicles (Beta) “Wait for ICJ opinion” Also on Tuesday, Degert commented on Kosovo, saying that “each further step when it comes to Kosovo the opinion of the International Court of Justice (ICJ) should be awaited”. The top UN court is due to rule on the legality under international law of the Kosovo Albanian unilateral independence declaration, made in February 2008 and rejected by Belgrade. “We must wait for the court’s opinion and then see what kind of solution we can find. There are different models and options. Therefore, it’s a matter of time, patience and work,” he Degert was quoted as saying. Radio Free Europe, in the meantime, says that “an increasing number of EU member states are suggesting starting a technical dialog between Belgrade and Pristina after the ICJ decision, while the authorities in Serbia expect an invitation to new negotiations about the status of Kosovo”.

Donation made to health centers

“This is a part of our support which is visible,” he said, adding that Serbia produces 48,000 tones of medical waste each year and that 9,000 tons are dangerous and two-thirds are infectious.

The vehicles are worth a total of EUR 600,000, and are part of a EUR 6mn donation from the IPA funds in the second phase of taking care of medical waste.

“There is a high level of risk when talking about taking handling of such waste, and that is why it is important to invest special efforts in organizing the entire system well,” Degert said.

He said that the project would include the installing of sterilizers with steam in medical institutions, crushers for needles and scalpels, and training for people who handle the medical waste.

Health Minister Tomica Milosavljević said that all health systems have great challenges with dealing with medical waste.

“Dealing with medical waste is a very complicated and important job. Every day, our job is hard because we are working in 300 institutions that are state-owned and more than 3,000 private ones,” he said.

He said that this important project is being conducted with the EU as a partner, but that the Environment and Spatial Planning Ministry and the Veterinary Administration of the Agriculture Ministry are also involved.

The vehicles will be used in clinical centers in Belgrade, Novi Sad, Niš and Kragujevac, as well as institutions in Leskovac and Subotica.

“Wait for ICJ opinion”

Also on Tuesday, Degert commented on Kosovo, saying that “each further step when it comes to Kosovo the opinion of the International Court of Justice (ICJ) should be awaited”.

The top UN court is due to rule on the legality under international law of the Kosovo Albanian unilateral independence declaration, made in February 2008 and rejected by Belgrade.

“We must wait for the court’s opinion and then see what kind of solution we can find. There are different models and options. Therefore, it’s a matter of time, patience and work,” he Degert was quoted as saying.

Radio Free Europe, in the meantime, says that “an increasing number of EU member states are suggesting starting a technical dialog between Belgrade and Priština after the ICJ decision, while the authorities in Serbia expect an invitation to new negotiations about the status of Kosovo”.