ARE DATA BEING HIDDEN? We still don't know how many patients 'survived the respirator'

SARAJEVO, (Patria) – BiH has been fighting the coronavirus pandemic for more than six months. 778 people have died from the consequences of coronavirus infection in BiH. Many of them were on respirators but unfortunately lost their battle for life. Of the 778 people who died, the exact number of those who were on respirators is unknown.

At the beginning of September, the Patria News Agency sent an official inquiry to the emails of five hospitals in BiH (SKB Mostar, KB Zenica, KB Bihać, UKC Tuzla, and KCUS Sarajevo) regarding the number of patients who were taken off respirators and successfully recovered. We received a response only from the Cantonal Hospital Zenica, which confirmed that three patients were taken off respirators and recovered from coronavirus.

Although we do not have official confirmation from UKC Tuzla regarding patients taken off respirators, the case of Ernest Alić, the first person connected to a respirator due to coronavirus, is known to the public. He was taken off after 22 days, his recovery took a few more days, after which he was released home.

The General Director of UKC Republika Srpska, Vlado Đajić, stated today that the survival rate of patients with coronavirus who were on respirators is around 40 percent.

“According to data from the World Health Organization, we are among the top when it comes to the survival rate of patients on respirators. They were also surprised that it is more than 40 percent,” Đajić said.

In mid-August, the Federal Minister of Health, Vjekoslav Mandić, reacted strongly to frequent media questions about the mortality rate of patients on respirators.

“Whoever ends up on a respirator is more on this side than the other. Meaning, they cannot breathe on their own and need assisted ventilation, which will succeed or fail to help,” Mandić said.

Dr. Jurica Arapović, an infectologist at SKB Mostar, stated that according to world literature, the survival rate of patients infected with coronavirus on respirators is up to 35%.

“It is important to try in every way to avoid this type of treatment. Unfortunately, when there is no choice, it is the only hope for the survival of critical patients. I don't want the public to become fearful of all this, but we must be sufficiently informed and aware of these facts,” Arapović said.

Although we tried to obtain data on the number of patients on respirators and how many successfully recovered during numerous press conferences, institutions still lack an official response. It is possible that cantonal public health institutes or the RS Institute of Public Health have this data, but there is no such data at the BiH level. If it exists, it has been unknown to the public so far.