SAMA Project Update
December 2014
There is lot to be proud of with everything that SAMA has accomplished in 2014. It was all made possible by your donations and the dedication of a few SAMA volunteers! We do hope that in 2015 you will continue to support SAMA in its mission to help even more communities in Serbia!!!
Here is an overview of our projects!
The Health Center in Brus serves a large number of remote villages and the Health Center needed a portable ultrasound system so that emergency doctors and nurses could use it during their visits for diagnostic purposes.
Medigala and Dr. Zoran Ilić, director of the HC in Brus, concluded that Mindray M5 system would provide adequate capabilities for the HC needs.
The Mindray Z5 ultrasound system was delivered by Medigala to the HC in Brus on December 11th. Dr. Ilić told us that all the staff of the HC in Brus will go through the training on how to use the ultrasound and diagnostic imaging system in January of 2015.
We do plan to continue our active interaction with the HC in Brus and Dr. Ilić through regular contact, as well as through the exchange of knowledge and literature.
Krupanj was one of the areas hit hardest with the recent floods. To make things worse, the region was already lacking some basic medical equipment such as defibrillators. SAMA defined a project and purchased a Schiller Defigard 4000 defibrillator.
This defibrillator was delivered to Dr. Petar Petrović, the director of the HC in Krupanj on October 17th, 2014.
It should be noted that this was the first project where SAMA was able to import this equipment as Humanitarian Donation, without paying Value Added Tax (PDV) of 20%. That has saved us significant funds, and enabled us to do more projects.
We were able to immediately answer urgent requests for basic supplies to clean up and disinfect facilities and equipment and resupply medical materials lost in the flooding. We are proud to say that our volunteers in Serbia were able to deliver help to Centers in Svilajnac and Požega within two weeks of flooding and to the Center in Paraćin as soon as their needs were identified. A total of $5,000 worth of supplies were distributed this way.
The Health Center in Subotica expressed need for the ultrasound probe that will be used in cranial ultrasound scanning for premature and sick babies. SAMA collected funds fo the new ultrasound probe during the “Walking with SAMA 2014” event, and purchased the probe for the Health Center in Subotica.
The hospital in Ćuprija covers the transfusion needs of a population of over 40,000 people. The hospital was lacking adequate and safe storage for blood products.
Dr Aksentijevich visited the Ćuprija Hospital and recognized this need. Subsequently, SAMA defined a project and donated a modern blood refrigerator to the Hospital. The refrigerator was delivered to the Hospital in April 2014.
In the villages of Mali Iđoš, Lovćenac and Feketić, more than 4,000 women are examined every year at the local Health Center. However, because of a lack of a microscope, PAP smear examination, basic procedure in screening for cervical cancer, has never been done.
This was true until SAMA purchased and donated a high-resolution microscope with multiple lenses and other accessories worth $4,240 to be used for cervical cancer screening.