Iom: KOSOVO - New Medical Centre Provides Easy Access to Care for Villagers

A new medical clinic inaugurated today in the village of Skromë/Skrovna in Kosovo will provide essential primary health care and other medical services for the nearly 1,600 residents who, until now, have had to travel more than 20 kms to access the nearest medical facility.

The public health sector in Kosovo is in urgent need of improvement at all levels but especially in the provision of primary health care in remote, rural areas. Distances to the nearest medical facility is often a major put-off factor for rural residents seeking medical treatment.

The clinic in Skromë/Skrovna will host a general practitioner as well as paediatric, pharmaceutical and dental care services.

"Having these medical services on their doorstep will not only improve the health of this community, but will also help reduce the overall cost of medical treatments," says IOM’s Chief of Mission in Kosovo, Nidia Casati.

The construction of the clinic, a joint effort by the IOM Trust Fund, the Kosovo Protection Corps (KPC) and the municipality of Vushtrri/Vuèitrn and funded by the British government, is the latest in a line of projects aimed at rebuilding or rehabilitating the infrastructure in Kosovo.

Since the programme started nine years ago with funding from various governments including the USA, the Netherlands, Denmark and Germany, the IOM Trust Fund, set up to support the KPC in fulfilling its civilian protection mandate, has carried out 217 projects ranging from the provision of clean water and sanitation, renovation of public facilities, construction of roads, bridges, fire stations, and waste disposal sites, Earth Day clean-up campaigns, rehabilitation of schools and housing and reforestation programmes.

The KPC, a multi-ethnic civilian emergency services organization was created in the aftermath of the conflict in Kosovo. Since then, IOM has been the coordination agency responsible for developing the capacity of the KPC to fulfil its mandate.

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