Mental Health Center Opened

The Mental Health Center at the Public Institution Health Center Ilijaš was opened yesterday, reports the BH News Agency Patria. This is a project initiated within the comprehensive health system reform. The opening was attended by the Minister of Health of Sarajevo Canton, Dr. Eldan Lokmić, the Director of the Public Institution Health Center of Sarajevo Canton, prim.dr. Dženana Tanović, the Director of the Health Insurance Fund of Sarajevo Canton, dr.sci. Kenan Crnkić, and the municipal mayor Akif Fazlić.

Minister Lokmić stated that this municipality, as a border municipality of Sarajevo Canton, is a catchment area for a very large number of citizens, including citizens from the nearby municipalities of Vareš, Breza, and Visoko.

- The recent opening of the emergency medical service point, the diabetology counseling center, and today's opening of the Mental Health Center enable a much higher quality and safer life, and a significantly greater degree of health protection for citizens. We are confident that the Public Institution Health Center Ilijaš will very soon grow into an institution that will provide citizens with a fully rounded service of high-quality and comprehensive primary health care - said Lokmić.

The Director of the Public Institution Health Center of Sarajevo Canton, prim.dr. Dženana Tanović, said that the Center was opened in cooperation with the Health Insurance Fund of Sarajevo Canton through the rationalization and redistribution of existing resources. In this way, the services of this type of healthcare have been significantly brought closer and made easier for the citizens of the Municipality of Ilijaš to use.

The Director of the Health Insurance Fund of Sarajevo Canton, dr.sci. Kenan Crnkić, stated that this is a project initiated globally by the World Health Organization, with the aim of providing mental health care at the primary healthcare level.

- Considering that this is a very significant, necessary, and prosperous project (especially taking into account the traumatic consequences of past events and the consequently endangered mental health status of the population of this municipality, as well as a large number of displaced persons from the areas of Srebrenica, Žepa, etc., who are settled in this area). The Fund has, of course, provided full support for the realization of this, as one of a series of exceptionally high-quality, constructive, and "tangible" projects that we have managed to realize together in order to ensure more effective and better protection for all citizens of Sarajevo Canton - said Crnkić.

In addition to this extremely important center, the diabetology counseling center within the Ilijaš Health Center was also officially put into operation, to the satisfaction of the residents of this municipality.