EU and UNDP: Another 5,000 Coronavirus Tests and 15,000 Face Shields Delivered

SARAJEVO, (Patria) - Head of the EU Delegation and EU Special Representative in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Ambassador Johann Sattler, and UNDP Resident Representative in BiH, Steliana Nedera, today handed over 2,000 medical face shields (visors) to the Public Health Institute of Sarajevo Canton. The equipment was received by the Prime Minister of Sarajevo Canton, Mario Nenadić, and the Head of the Crisis Staff of Sarajevo Canton, Aida Pilav. The procurement was financed by the European Union under the assistance programme for BiH in the fight against the coronavirus (COVID-19), implemented by UNDP BiH.

Ambassador Sattler stated on that occasion that the delivery of a total of 15,000 protective visors for medical staff across BiH began today.

"This equipment is urgently needed because they are on the front line of defence against the coronavirus. Today we also completed the delivery of 7,500 coronavirus tests to clinical centres in Sarajevo, Mostar, Banja Luka and Tuzla. I am happy that in this way the EU can help BiH and its citizens in the fight against a common enemy. This is just the beginning; next week we will continue with our assistance because now the most important thing is to save human lives."

A total of 15,000 visors will be delivered by the end of next week for the needs of medical institutions throughout BiH. The visors are produced by a BiH company from Goražde, and with this, the European Union also supported local production.

UNDP Resident Representative Nedera emphasised that the UN development programme, together with the World Health Organisation (WHO), is using all its capacities to fight the coronavirus.

"We are proud of the partnership with the European Union and that we have the opportunity to put our procurement and analysis capacities to use for the common resistance and rapid response to this crisis."

Prime Minister Nenadić stated that the protective visors received today as a donation from the European Union are primarily intended for the protection of our medical staff.

"For us, this donation is very significant because in this way we support domestic production and instead of importing, we buy domestic products."

The Head of the Crisis Staff of Sarajevo Canton, Pilav, stated that the donation refers to part of the protective equipment necessary for our healthcare workers in their daily work.

"We have already made a distribution list for healthcare and social institutions, meaning that in this first round, each of our healthcare workers in Sarajevo Canton will receive an appropriate number of visors."

Today, the delivery of 7,500 coronavirus tests in Sarajevo, Banja Luka, Tuzla and Mostar was also completed in cooperation with the implementing partner UNDP in BiH. This assistance is part of the first package of European Union support for urgent medical needs in BiH in the fight against the coronavirus, worth 2 million euros. A total of 7 million euros is planned for this support, which also includes the procurement of 80 ventilators. The delivery of the first ventilators is expected in the first half of April 2020.