02.03.2015.

Marking the Day of the Military Medical Academy

On the occasion of 171 years of existence of the Military Medical Academy, a ceremony and award recognition has been held today in the Central Military Club. It was attended by the President of the Republic of Serbia Tomislav Nikolic, Defence Minister Bratislav Gasic, Minister of Health Zlatibor Loncar and Chief of the Serbian Armed Forces General Staff General Ljubisa Dikovic, as well as numerous friends of that military medical centre.

Extending his best wishes for the holiday to employees at the MMA, Minister Gasic pointed out that this house, which was created by hard work, great knowledge and renunciation of people who dedicated their life to it, has always been the pride of the military health care and therefore it should not be surprising that it gained great reputation both at home and worldwide.

- By rational approach and good management and leadership we succeeded in preserving all segments of the work in the MMA; not only the health segment, which is the most important one, but also the scientific and educational segments. Caring about the health of our members as well as citizens, you are doing another important thing – you are accomplishing the basic task of your profession – the Minister of Defence pointed out, adding that the results of the work confirm that the MMA employees showed by their great dedication in taking care of the military and civilian insured during the past year how to work in the interest of citizens, military and the society.

Gasic particularly pointed out the significance of the MMA Medical Faculty, which is unique in the country and the region, as it combines medical and military vocation.

- This year we have a privilege that any defence system in the world rarely has. Namely, the year 2015 will be remembered for the promotion of the first-class of medical second lieutenants. This year, they are completing their six-year graduate medical studies and are to begin serving in the military medical corps – the Minister of Defence emphasised pointing out also the international cooperation of the MMA, because it is an important segment of the foreign defence policy, as well as the participation of MMA members in the context of medical teams in the UN- and EU-led peacekeeping missions.

According to him, the task of the Ministry of Defence is to continue to support the MMA in every segment in which it is necessary, and the staff at the MMA should continue to respect the Hippocratic Oath.

As pointed out by Acting Head of the Military Medical Academy Colonel Prof. Dr Zoran Segrt, the MMA was created and developed together with the Serbian state and the army, going through all the wars and sufferings with them and becoming and remaining an integral part of our national history.

- Key credit for that belongs to our professors – teachers who had visionary plans when they started from a military hospital to create a unified whole – under one roof for treatment, education and research. In medicine, in which every minute is often precious and sometimes irreparable, the Military Medical Academy is a place where it is possible to form a panel of doctors in ten minutes and make the best decision with the aim to cure a patient and reduce his/her suffering – Colonel Segrt pointed out.

Speaking about the achievements, Colonel Segrt pointed out that during the past year 2014, more than 300,000 patients were examined at the MMA Specialized Outpatient Clinic, more than 34,000 of those who needed complex diagnostic methods and treatment were hospitalised, and about 27,000 surgical procedures were performed, while during the last year, more than 9,000 litres of blood were collected at the Institute for Transfusion which, after processing according to the highest standards, was used to treat both patients at the MMA, and patients in many medical institutions across the country.

During the ceremony, awards were traditionally presented to the best surgeon, the best author and reviewer of the Military Medical Review journal, as well as to the best organizational unit of the MMA according to the voting of the colleagues.

On the occasion of today's holiday, Colonel Segrt awarded the Plaque of the Military Medical Academy to the Serbian Armed Forces which was received by the Chief of General Staff General Dikovic.