Addressing the Committee members, State Secretary at the Ministry of Education and Science Radivoje Mitrovic said that the issue relating to setting the location for the medical cyclotron for the diagnosis of the most difficult illnesses should soon be resolved. He reminded that a working group had been formed comprising representatives of the Ministry of Education and Science and stressed that the radiopharmaceuticals production centre should be installed in one location. Mitrovic stated that the expert public is divided on whether the centre should be at the Clinical Centre of Serbia or Vinca Institute and expressed expectation that a compromise solution might be reached soon.

Assistant Minister of Education and Science Snezana Pajevic stressed that for Serbia, it was enough to have just one pharmaceuticals production centre and that examples in some countries show that these are mainly positioned within clinical centres. Be that as it may, she believes that importing radiopharmaceuticals is the least favourable solution.

Assistant Minister of Education and Science Nada Dragovic also deemed that, from the economic aspect, it is the best that production be located in one spot and that the Clinical Centre of Serbia or Vinca Institute should come to a common agreement.

In the debate, the Committee members pointed out that Vinca meets the appropriate requirements for the production of radiopharmaceuticals and that it was unclear why the project was abandoned. The Committee Chairman reminded that the members of the assembly body had visited Vinca Institute attempting to facilitate finding a definite solution to the issue. He stressed that the Committee members are fully in favour of resolving the issue as soon as possible as it is, first of all, in the interest of the patients and asked that the Committee be duly informed on all of the working group’s further activities.

The sitting was chaired by Committee Chairman Srboljub Zivanovic.