At the sitting held on 11 June 2021, outside of the National Assembly seat, in Sabac, the members of the Health and Family Committee considered the current epidemiological situation and vaccination on the territory of Macva District.
At the beginning of the sitting the attending were greeted by the Mayor of Sabac Dr Aleksandar Pajic, who thanked the Committee, pointing out that the epidemiological situation in Sabac is good and stable and that the fight against the pandemic is coming to an end with the citizens of Sabac and the Republic of Serbia gaining collective immunity.
Darko Laketic, pointed out that the objective of today’s sitting is to contribute to raising the level of healthcare in the coming period and increasing the number of vaccinated citizens. He said that the recipe for success lies in raising the citizens' awareness of the importance of vaccination and acquiring collective immunity.
Dr Laketic said that the sitting was convened to make sure the Committee is informed about the state of vaccination in Macva District, as well as about the problems encountered by the health institutions of the District and finding solutions to the problems.
Laketic informed the participants that the Subcommittee for monitoring the epidemiological situation due to the presence of the infectious disease COVID-19 was formed on 2 February of this year with the task to consider, among other things, all activities organised and conducted by Serbian authorities, local self-governments and other entities, healthcare institutions and individuals in order to protect the population from infectious diseases.
The Committee Chairman said that the Subcommittee has considered the presence of different strains of COVID-19 and the four types of vaccines available to the citizens of Serbia, and resolved the uncertainties about pregnant women and people with chronic diseases receiving the vaccines.
Laketic pointed out that, as the citizens of Serbia can choose the vaccine they want to be inoculated with, the projected 50% of the population receiving the vaccine may be exceeded by the end of June, reaching 70%.
Branko Vujkovic, Director of Public Health Institute Sabac, said that the epidemiological situation in the Macva District is following a favourable course, with a decreasing tendency of infected. Four people fell ill with COVID-19 in the last 24 hours, and since the beginning of the pandemic, more than 63,000 PCR tests and more than 66,000 antigen tests have been performed, said the Director of the Institute. During the pandemic, the number of patients in the Macva District exceeded 27,000 and the number of active patients is 142. To be precise, 47.3% of citizens in Mali Zvornik, 50.2% in the city of Sabac, 46.4% in Loznica, 39% in Bogatic, 36.7% in Ljubovija, 35.1% in Koceljeva and in 30 and 25% respectively of the population of Krupnja and Vladimirci were revaccinated.
The sitting was also attended by other representatives of the Macva District: Head of the Macva Administrative District Vladan Krasavac, member of the City Health Council Jelena Vikic and representatives, i.e. directors of health institutions: Sabac General Hospital, Loznica General Hospital, Sabac Health Centre, Koceljeva Health Centre, Mali Zvornik Health Centre, Ljubovija Health Centre, Vladimirci Health Centre, Bogatic Health Centre, Krupanj Health Centre and the director of the Republic Health Insurance Fund Sabac branch. The representatives of health institutions presented how they fought the epidemic, emphasising that great help came from the Government of the Republic of Serbia, and that the biggest challenges facing them were the lack of staff, ambulances and other professional equipment.
In the ensuing discussion, the Committee members agreed that they would point out the needs of the Macva District health institutions to the Ministry of Health and the Republic Health Institute.
The sitting of the Health and Family Committee outside the National Assembly seat was supported by the Westminster Foundation for Democracy.
The sitting was chaired by Committee Chairman Dr Sci.med Darko Laketic and attended by the following Committee members and deputy members: Nikola Radosavljevic, Svetlana Milijic, Rajka Matovic, Sladjana Nikolic, Nevena Djuric, Dr Marko Bogdanovic, Milica Nikolic, Natasa Ivanovic, Dr Vesna Ivkovic and Borisav Kovacevic.
