Novi Sad, Feb 13, 2004 - Japanese Ambassador to Serbia-Montenegro Ryuichi Tanabe has delivered €1.8 million worth of medical equipment to the Novi Sad clinical centre as part of a Japanese government €8.9 million assistance package for Serbia's health institutions.
The donation comprises 150 pieces of medical equipment including a color doppler and x-ray and ultrasound equipment.
As part of its assistance project for Serbia's health sector, the Japanese government will also donate equipment for clinical centres in Belgrade, Nis and Kragujevac which provide medical treatment for some two million patients a year.
When it took power in 2001, the Serbian government inherited a financially strained health sector which saw 10 years of no investment, Deputy Prime Minister Zarko Korac said at the equipment donation ceremony. The fact that refugees and displaced persons account for some 10 percent of the country's population makes the Japanese government's donation even more valuable to Serbia, Korac added.
Vojvodina parliament Speaker Nenad Canak, Vojvodina Executive Council President Djordje Djukic and Novi Sad officials also attended the ceremony.
