Donation to the Institute for Childhood Diseases – for the best start in life
The donation of state-of-the-art equipment worth 92,000 euros to the Institute for Childhood Diseases of the Clinical Centre of Montenegro by UNICEF and its Business Council on Child Rights, rotary clubs and the International Women’s Club
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PODGORICA, 29 November 2022 – On the occasion of the 60th anniversary of the foundation of the Institute for Childhood Diseases of the Clinical Centre of Montenegro, a donation of state-of-the-art equipment worth 92,000 euros was provided to the Centre for Neonatology, thanks to the joint action of UNICEF, companies that are members of UNICEF’s Business Council on Child Rights, rotary clubs across the country and the International Women’s Club of Montenegro.
The donated equipment includes: a neonatal ventilator, incubators, electric armchairs for mothers and babies to facilitate skin-to-skin contact, an ambient noise monitor, refrigerators for storing breast milk, cribs for babies and the like.
The Director of the Clinical Centre of Montenegro, Dr Ljiljana Radulovic, said that providing good health care requires keeping abreast with the latest technological and medical achievements. “This equipment will enable our youngest patients to enjoy the best possible conditions during recovery, while our fellow colleagues, doctors and other medical staff will enjoy better working conditions,” Dr Radulovic said.
The Director of the Institute for Childhood Diseases, Dr Velibor Majic, said that children are the future and the most important resource of every society. “When this fact becomes generally accepted, maybe we will mark some future anniversaries in new premises that will meet 21st-century standards and provide the youngest ones with the best possible conditions for their treatment,” Dr Majic pointed out.
Paediatrician-neonatologist Dr Danojla Dakic pointed out that modern neonatology is striving for the treatment of prematurely born children based on the least aggressive methods. “The Centre for Neonatology needs new premises, while Montenegro needs more new-borns,” Dr Dakic said.
Zorica Blagojevic, a mother whose twins were treated at the Centre for Neonatology, shared her experience, emphasizing the importance of contact between mother and child. “Life begins here at Neonatology,” Blagojevic said.
The UNICEF Representative to Montenegro, Juan Santander, pointed out that this donation ensures better availability of mother’s milk for prematurely born babies.
“We have known for a long time that mother’s milk is the best food for babies and everything they need during the first six months of life. Some of the ill or prematurely born babies may not be able to be breastfed immediately upon birth, but they can be fed with mother’s milk and even breastfed later. Sixty years ago, UNICEF supported the construction of the Institute for Childhood Diseases,” Santander said, adding that this action shows that the private sector is an important partner of the state. Through new assessments of care for mothers and babies in maternity hospitals in Montenegro, UNICEF will continue to support health system reforms next year as well, Santander said.
Sanja Mugosa, president of the Rotary Club of Podgorica, said that actions like this brought people and institutions together. “We all love babies, we all look forward to babies, they remind us how magical life is,” Mugosa concluded.
The donation reflects the shared vision of all partners and their desire to support the most vulnerable members of our society – prematurely born babies. This donation will significantly improve the level of equipment of the only neonatal intensive care unit in Montenegro in order to improve the conditions for their treatment, survival and development.
The Institute for Childhood Diseases of the Clinical Centre of Montenegro was founded 60 years ago with the support of UNICEF.
UNICEF’s Business Council, established in the middle of last year, brings together representatives of the private sector in order to combine efforts and resources for socially responsible initiatives that will lead to concrete, sustainable and positive changes in children’s lives. This was the Business Council’s first action supported by One, MTEL, Crnogorski Telekom, Crnogorska komercijalna banka, NLB bank, Lovcen bank, Mercator, the Airports of Montenegro, the Chamber of Economy of Montenegro, the Montenegrin Foreign Investors’ Council and the Association of Montenegrin Managers.
