13.11.2020.

Military health care 136 health professionals stronger

Today at the Military Medical Academy, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Defence Nebojša Stefanović, PhD, handed in employment contracts to medical professionals who will be employed by the Ministry of Defence's Military Health Department on temporary and permanent contracts. He emphasized that 136 young people, medical technicians, doctors, pharmacists and other medical professionals have been employed not only by the Military Medical Academy where 90 of them will work, but by other military medical institutions as well.

- Acting on President Vucic’s message related to the strengthening of our armed forces’ health care and capacities, this important institution is getting necessary reinforcement and it is strengthening its human resources so that we can provide the utmost attention and medical care to all citizens of Serbia – Minister Stefanović said.

Minister of Defence emphasized that, in addition to the current fight against the coronavirus, military medical institutions provide medical care to citizens of Serbia every day, whenever that kind of assistance is needed.

- Currently, the Military Medical Academy works 24 hours a day. You can come at any time and seek help from excellent doctors who will do their best to cure you and help you – Minister Stefanović said, emphasizing that the MMA is one of the pillars and supports to both military health care and Serbia’s health care in general.

After visiting the exhibition on the military corps in the First World War and the fight against typhus displayed in the hall of the Military Medical Academy, Minister Stefanović spoke about the importance of military health care both in the past and present. The exhibition testifies that military health care has always been a support to the citizens, during the most difficult years of the war, as well as today in the fight against the Covid-19 pandemic.

- The exhibition shows how fiercely members of the medical corps fought against typhus, which was the greatest plague that befell us in the First World War and killed more than 235,000 people in three waves, but it also shows how hard military doctors and other medical personnel fought to protect their army and their people in the most difficult times. I would like to draw a parallel with the situation today. After the outbreak of Covid-19, military doctors, nurses, technicians and other personnel did not flee or hesitate. They have been on the frontline from day one until today; they have been fighting to defend their homeland at all times, to help their citizens and to preserve the strength of their medical corps, and I congratulate them on that. These are people who deserve full trust, attention and respect - the Minister of Defence emphasized.

He congratulated the new military health care members and said that a lot is expected from them. They are expected to be as competent as their more experienced colleagues and to protect Serbia, their armed forces and their people. In accordance with the Crisis Response Team’s recommendations and the Government’s Covid-19 measures, only two contracts were handed today.

One of the 136 newly employed medical professionals is anaesthesiologist Miloš Petković, who is 34 years old and who completed his specialization at the Military Medical Academy. He thanked the Ministry of Defence, Minister Stefanović and Head of the Military Medical Academy for the trust they placed in him.

- I am grateful for the opportunity given to me, and it is a great honour for me to be part of the Military Medical Academy’s medical team - Petković pointed out.

Anica Božović graduated from the Medical College in Zemun and today she thanked Minister Stefanović, Head of the Military Medical Academy and head nurse for the fact that she is among the new military health care members.

- This will mean a lot for my further training and will be an incentive for me to strive for greater success - said 27-year-old Anica Božović.

During today's visit, Head of the Military Medical Academy, Colonel Prof. Miroslav Vukosavljević, MD, acquainted Minister Stefanović with the activities and mission of one of the largest military hospitals in this region, as well as this military health institution’s history.

Minister Stefanović visited the hyperbaric chamber, and later saw the operation of the MMA’s Emergency Centre and the admission-triage ward, which was set up in front of the Centre on 17 March, where more than 60,000 patients have been examined since the outbreak of the coronavirus epidemic.

Military Medical Academy was also visited today by Head of Military Health Department, Major General Uglješa Udovičić, MD.