Fight against COVID-19: European Union donates vaccination consumables for healthcare institutions in BiH

Deputy Head of the EU Delegation to Bosnia and Herzegovina Ekaterina Dorodnova handed over in Sarajevo 150,000 syringes and 48,000 safety boxes for medical waste on 15 October 2021. This is the first of five deliveries of vaccination consumables that will arrive to BiH to be distributed to healthcare institutions across the country.

“This equipment is part of our assistance to support vaccination against Covid-19 in Bosnia and Herzegovina, which has been procured under the EU4Health programme. The EU4Health programme is funded by the European Union with €13.7 million allocated for the procurement of vaccines and equipment to support fight against Covid-19 in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Together with its Member States, the EU has so far delivered a total of 1.3 million doses of vaccine to Bosnia and Herzegovina to speed up the vaccination campaign”, said Dorodnova.

The handover was attended by the BiH Minister of Civil Affairs Ankica Gudeljević and the UNICEF Representative in BiH Rownak Khan.

“As a partner in the EU4Health programme, UNICEF is providing technical and procurement support to the Ministry of Civil Affairs and entity/BD health authorities on COVID-19 vaccination materials and cold chain. UNICEF is the largest vaccine buyer in the world which normally works on childhood immunizations but has shifted its focus to broader vaccination efforts against COVID-19. With the world’s largest humanitarian warehouse in Copenhagen, Denmark, UNICEF’s established supply chain network was invaluable in ensuring that BiH receives vaccination supplies timely as global supplies are very constrained”, said Khan.

The EU4Health programme is a part of the overall EU’s contribution to the fight against COVID-19 in Bosnia and Herzegovina. The EU has also provided €7.76 million for the procurement of medical and protective equipment, which has been delivered to healthcare institutions across the country.