While the situation regarding the procurement of medicine, oxygen, and other medical materials for the North Mitrovica Hospital Center is alarming and critical, there is currently no humanitarian disaster, said Zlatan Elek, the hospital’s director of the institution, during today’s press conference.
The morning after Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić declared that preventive exams would be conducted in over 100 health centers and hospitals in Serbia, Elek organized a press conference to inform residents that the North Mitrovica Hospital Center would also participate in the project.
Despite the critical situation facing the Mitrovica hospital due to a shortage of medical materials, preventive exams are scheduled to take place.
Elek revealed that the hospital has run out of saline solutions and a certain number of antibiotics, with oxygen supplies also running low.
„We cannot determine how long the oxygen will last because it depends on the number of patients,“ Elek stated.
He added that all the materials currently lacking in the hospital have been provided by relevant Serbian institutions, including the Serbian president.
„All these medicines were provided to us by our state, President Aleksandar Vučić, the relevant ministry, and the Kosovo Office. am not in a position to address the question as why they cannot reach our clinical center in Mitrovica– the people that can provide answers are in the south.“
Elek addressed the issue of medicine being returned on two occasions in 2021 and 2022
When asked about the recent statement from the Kosovo Ministry of Health claiming there was never a ban on medicines intended for Serbian hospitals in Kosovo, Elek clarified that he did not attribute the events of September 24th to the lack of medicine delivery.
„If the service of the Ministry of Health of the so-called authorities in Pristina was so prompt, we would not be talking about this topic now, nor would I be receiving such questions,“ he remarked.
Elek specified that in September 2021, drugs worth 600,000 euros intended for the institution were returned because they lacked instructions in the Albanian language.
He challenged, „Bring me a bilingual ampoule from the south side, and I’ll accept this as a valid reason.“
According to Elek, in September 2022, a request was returned because „the Brussels agreement for the supply of medicines was completely annulled, and we were referred to humanitarian supply.“
„Since then, nothing has entered this Hospital Center. Even when we were supposed to have regular quarterly supplies, the authorities in Pristina let us supply once or twice a year. That is the truth,“ Elek claimed.
Elek attributed the current situation to the „deceitful plan of the authorities in Pristina,“ with the intent to force the Serbian population from the north of Kosovo to emigrate by denying them access to healthcare and treatment – fundamental rights according to the UN Charter.
He reassured that there is currently enough oxygen, and urgent surgical interventions are being performed.
Addressing recent allegations in Serbian media about a „Banjo Luka-like scenario for Mitrovica babies“ and a looming humanitarian disaster, Elek advised against panic, stating:
„There’s no reason for that kind of panic yet, and I’ll call you when we run out of supplies.“
He emphasized the 550-bed institution’s illogical dependency on the mayor’s signature to import oxygen.
„We are supplied by central public procurement, announced by the Republic Health Insurance Fund and the Ministry, and we only ask that the medicines intended for us actually reach us, and nothing more than that,“ Elek concluded.
Elek said that all relevant international factors, including the head of UNMIK, Caroline Ziadeh, have been notified about the current situation in the Hospital Center.
He expressed hope that a humanitarian disaster would be avoided, but warned that if it does not happen, all international factors, including UNMIK, OSCE, the World Health Organization, and humanitarian organizations, would be complicit.
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