10.11.2011.
US Embassy's donation to MMA
Chief of the Military Medical Academy professor Marjan Novakovic and US Ambassador to USA Mary Warlick attended a ceremony of presenting a US 100, 000 USD worth of donation.The ceremony was attended by State Secretary of MoD Zoran Vesic and Chief of the Military Health Care Department Brig Gen Veljko Todorovic.
The donation in equipment and educational material is part of the US DoD HIV/AIDS Prevention Sector which started cooperation with the Serbian MoD health care department in 2006.
In the words of MMA Chief Colonel Novakovic, the donation of American colleagues is part of the global HIV/AIDS prevention program which the United States of America are implementing in over 80 armies around the world, however, Serbia is the only country in this region to be involved in the program.It is very important that the USA have recognized the significance of implementing continued activities with respect to prevention and control of HIV/AIDS among military population through education and training of military staff. According to expert literature, military population is stated as the population running a significant risk of being infected with HIV. The estimate is that military personnel have twice as much risk of being infected with HIV during peace and even more during time of war, as Colonel Novakovic stated, adding that the cooperation of American and Serbian military doctors dates back to 1980s when a large number of MMA doctors went to further their education in the USA. He also expressed his assurance that cooperation in this as well as other programs and fields of military medicine would continue in the future as well.
Speaking about the importance of the meeting today, ambassador Warlick emphasized that this donation featured state of the art technology in detecting HIV in blood, which will, as she expressed, would raise the level of awareness with the members of the Serbian army and in the country in general.This summer the world marked three decades since the first case of HIV infection had been recorded, and though it may seem that such a country as Serbia runs no risk of HIV pandemic, only protection and education can enable safe protection from this virus, adding Ambassador Warlick reminding that the US had donated to the Serbian MoD within the military program for preventing HIV infection more than 600, 000 USD.
This is a global initiative within which the American Government is cooperating with the armies around the world in order to raise the level of awareness and information available regarding HIV and AIDS, with view of strengthening the capacities for prevention, treatment and care of HIV patients. The assistance is based on developing labs for diagnostic and testing of HIV, training the medical staff and buoying primary prevention equipment.