TİKA Makes Life Easier for Dialysis Patients in the Sandžak Region

Turkish Cooperation and Coordination Agency (TİKA) provided 1 off-road vehicle to the Novi Pazar General Hospital’s Nephrology Department Hemodialysis Center, serving approximately 200 thousand patients from the neighbouring regions and countries.

Novi Pazar General Hospital’s Nephrology Department Hemodialysis Center was founded in 1984. The nephrology department, which has 7 beds and 29 dialysis rooms, is serving patients from the municipalities of Raška, Tutin, and Sjenica, along with Novi Pazar. Patients who live in the frontier zone of Montenegro and Kosovo are also receiving treatment in the nephrology department, which serves approximately 200 thousand people in total.

100 dialysis patients who need to have access to dialysis machines at least twice a week are benefiting from the hemodialysis center. The center used to serve the patients from outside of Novi Pazar by taking them from their homes with two off-road vehicles that were in bad condition. Since the roads these vehicles use are on damaged, rough, and mountainous terrain, difficulties occurred while transporting the patients to the center, especially due to the bad weather conditions during winter.

To support the safe and in-time transportation of dialysis patients and improve their treatment process, TİKA delivered 1 off-road vehicle to the hospital’s authorities.

The delivery ceremony was attended by Republic of Türkiye’s Ambassador to Belgrade, Hami Aksoy; Consul General of Novi Pazar, Osman Peşmen; Director of Novi Pazar General Hospital, Meho Mahmutoviç; Head of the Nephrology Department, Dr. Edvin Hadzibuliç; Director of Novi Pazar Health Center, Dr. Ervin Çoroviç and the hospital staff.

In his speech, Ambassador Aksoy mentioned TİKA’s projects in Serbia generally and in the Sandžak region and stated that more than 60 patients receive treatment in the hemodialysis center daily. He added that TİKA provided the off-road vehicle intending to enable dialysis patients from the cities in the area to receive treatment in the best conditions.

In his speech, the Director of Novi Pazar Health Center, Dr. Ervin Çoroviç, stated that the off-road vehicle TİKA provided will make a great contribution to the safe and in-time transportation of dialysis patients to the hemodialysis center. He thanked TİKA and Türkiye for the project carried out in the field of health.