Donations to support the health system are a common topic for charitable contributions in the Western Balkans.
This was particularly pronounced during the previous two years, when the business sector, citizens, and non-profit organizations provided support in various ways, both to the health system and their communities in general, in the fight against COVID-19.
Health support continued in ordinary circumstances, i.e., after the COVID-19 crisis was alleviated.
Our data collection and verification team is working hard to prepare annual reports on philanthropy, and their preliminary data show that healthcare in 2021 was a much-supported topic. Thus, in Serbia, according to current data, more than 2.7 million EUR were donated to support health care in the previous year, which is 7.1% of all benefits, and the most significant donor was the business sector.
In Croatia, more than 1.6 million EUR were donated for this purpose in the year behind us, which is 4.3% of the recorded donated amount.
Current data for Northern Macedonia show that in 2021 the community in this country donated more than 361.2 thousand EUR, which is 15.8% of the recorded donated amount. In BiH, more than 341.7 thousand EUR was allocated, which is 3 % of the recorded amount.
In Montenegro, more than 675.8 thousand EUR were donated to support health care, which is 5.2% of all donations; in Albania, 3.8 thousand EUR, or 0.1% of the total amount, and in Kosovo, more than 46, EUR 6 thousand, which represents 2.1% of donations recorded so far.
If you want to find out more about health benefits and other important topics, register in our Giving Balkans applications and learn everything about philanthropy and donations in the Western Balkans from 2015 until today.
In the meantime, find out what health care support has looked like in the past few days. We have prepared as many as eight stories about donations and charities to support the health system.
Donation of 25 thousand euros for the Clinical Center of Montenegro
The Montenegrin Electricity Distribution System (CEDIS) donated EUR 25,000 to the Clinical Center of Montenegro (KCCG).
This donation represents the continuation of the implementation of the four-year agreement, which was signed with KCCG at the end of 2019. CEDIS has committed to donating the amount of EUR 25,000 to this institution annually by 2023.
Since 2017, CEDIS has donated over EUR 160,000 to the Clinical Center.
Thanks to, among other things, donations from CEDIS, today we are a few days away from the opening of the renovated Clinic for Plastic, Reconstructive, and Aesthetic Surgery. I will remind you that this is the first time this clinic has been renovated since 1974. In addition, the donation will be directed to the departments of gynecology and ophthalmology. I thank CEDIS, we hope for the continuation of successful cooperation, and I invite everyone else to follow this example, pointed out Ljiljana Radulović, director of the Clinical Center of Montenegro.
Donations, realized in previous years, were spent building a Baby-Friendly Department at the Clinic of Gynecology and Obstetrics, procurement of pediatric cardiac ultrasound for the Institute of Pediatrics, and syringe pumps for the Clinic for Anesthesia, Resuscitation, and Pain Therapy.
The Institute of Children's Diseases received an emergency device from an anonymous donor
The Clinical Center of Montenegro recently received another donation, the Prisma Flex emergency device, intended for the Institute for Children's Diseases.
The donor who made this donation wanted to remain anonymous.
The Minister of Health, Jelena Borovinić Bojović, said that doctors, primarily pediatric nephrologists, are now provided with a mechanism for taking care of patients with acute impairment of renal function.
Donation ball under masks
The Rotary Community of Montenegro, in cooperation with UNICEF, is organizing for the first time a national fundraising initiative called Too Small to Be Alone.
This initiative raises funds to provide optimal conditions for the healthy development of all premature babies in Montenegro. To contribute to this action, members of the Rotary Club of Kotor organized the fourth Donation Ball under masks.
Funds in the amount of 2,325 euros were raised, thanks to the participation of members of Rotary Club Kotor, Rotarians from other clubs, and friends of Rotary, the sale of lotteries and masks, and individual donations. All equipment purchased from donated funds will be handed over to the Institute for Children's Diseases in Podgorica on the 60th anniversary, which will be marked this year.
The actions of Kotor's Rotarians were attended by numerous companies and individuals who set aside donations for this purpose or lottery prizes.
Rotary Club Bar provided free preeclampsia tests for pregnant women
Rotary Club Bar organized the charity event and provided 180 free screening tests for preeclampsia within the project "Breathe Life," in cooperation with the Bar Polyclinic Dr. Vuksanović.
Pregnant women should bring a questionnaire filled out by their gynecologist to get the free test at the Vuksanović polyclinic. The questionnaire is available on the website www.rotaryclubbar.me and their FB page. All the necessary information can be obtained by calling the Polyclinic Dr. Vuksanović - 030 315 900, where the testing is performed.
Preeclampsia is the most significant cause of death in pregnant women and babies globally. This test is the only sure way to determine if a particular pregnant woman is likely to develop preeclampsia and later eclampsia.
As part of the "Breathe Life" project, Rotary Club Bar previously, in cooperation with Polyclinic Dr. Vuksanovic and Roche Serbia, organized training for gynecologists and others interested in screening tests for preeclampsia and eclampsia - the most severe pregnancy complications affecting 2-8% of women in the world.
Montenegrin Commercial Bank donated a set of instruments to the Children's Surgical Clinic
The Montenegrin Commercial Bank (CKB) donated a set of 11 instruments to the Children's Surgical Clinic of the Institute for Children's Diseases to perform minimally invasive laparoscopic surgery.
According to this bank, CKB has been continuously supporting the Institute for Children's Diseases for more than a decade, striving to improve the working conditions and functioning of medical teams that preserve the health of the youngest.
The head of the Surgical block of the Institute for Children's Diseases, Dr. Muhedin Kadić, emphasized that this donation significantly improved surgical sets, which will enable doctors of the Children's Surgical Clinic and the entire Institute for Children's Diseases to provide children with the best possible treatments.
Donation of the Rotary Club of Peja
Rotary Club Peja handed over to the Main Family Medicine Center in Peja a donation with protective tools and equipment for family medicine centers in the Municipality of Peja. With this donation are provided packages with protective gear for medical staff and other auxiliary materials such as surgical masks for the face (3 sides), masks FFP2 - K95, goggles, nitrile examination and medical gloves, alcohol for disinfection, forehead thermometer with infrared ray red, pulse oximeter as well as disposable patient bedding.
Bor entrepreneurs donated two CTG devices to the maternity hospital
Bor entrepreneurs donated two CTG devices worth 350 thousand dinars to the Maternity Hospital of the General Hospital.
The existing devices for monitoring pregnancy and childbirth were out of order, so this donation is more than necessary for the Bor maternity hospital, they point out from this medical institution.
Donation for the Health Center in Šid
The Commissariat for Refugees and Migration of the Republic of Serbia recently donated two hundred white medical coats to all health workers of that institution, thanking them for the long and tireless fight to protect citizens from the COVID-19 virus.
Equipment for hospitals in BiH
The Embassy of Bosnia and Herzegovina in Vienna, in cooperation with the Vienna City Administration and the Austrian humanitarian organization "Arbeiter-Samariter-Bund Osterreich," has prepared a large donation of medical equipment for the needs of medical institutions in BiH. The total value is 388,513 EUR.
The equipment will be delivered to health institutions throughout the country. The donation provided 66 trucks of various equipment, including kits for staff in operating rooms, equipment for the protection of medical workers, medical gloves, masks, and disinfectants for operating rooms.
As you can see, community support is daily and present in various ways, both when it comes to the area of health we wrote about today and when it comes to other important topics. We strive to share meaningful and valuable stories of philanthropy and donations in the Western Balkans. If you want daily access to detailed information and in-depth data, register in our Giving Balkans app and gain detailed insight into the functioning of the philanthropic ecosystem in the Western Balkans.
