Report on the Performance of Activities of the National Preventive Mechanism for 2015
At border crossings there were mostly ambulances of the Ministry Unlike the medical teams
of Health, but they were often too far away and not sufficiently
of the Ministry of Health,
visible, and medical teams stayed at the vehicle waiting for the
whom the refugees had
people who need their help to contact them, which is probably
to contact on their own
the reason why there were fewer interventions than may have
or accompanied by
been actually required. On the other hand, at Harmica border
police officers and/or
crossing we witnessed an exceptional, self-organized volunteer
volunteers, the medical
involvement of physicians. At Opatovac Camp, as a result of
teams of Magna and of
somewhat longer period of refugees’ stay (between several and
Doctors Without Borders
24 hours), healthcare was organized in an infirmary placed next
regularly approached the
to the registration tent and inside the camp there was a Magna
refugees and performed
tent and an ambulance. Transit Centre in SB had an infirmary in
so-called quick screening
each sector of the camp, as well as one next to the registration
of their general
section, and it also had a medical station, which meant a
condition.
significant improvement in infrastructure. Initial triage was
organized at registration, and it involved refugees with health problems having to contact the
police officer, which represented an additional burden for them. Apart from that, teams of
physicians of the Ministry of Health were not present at the sectors in both camps, and for
security reasons organization was based on the expectation that the refugees would come on
their own and request medical assistance, again with the help of the police officer. At the same
time, with constant presence of the police, there were also volunteers and employees of
UNICEF, UNHCR, Magna, Save the Children and other civil society organizations who were
constantly present in the sectors, without any recorded incidents or threats to their safety.
By 31 December, physicians of the Ministry of Health had examined 21,694 refugees, which
included 4,343 examinations by the emergency medical team, 16,130 examinations by family
medicine practitioners in the field, 591 occasions of hospital treatments and there were 630
persons who were treated at the medical station of Transit Centre in SB. In addition to that, the
number of interventions of Magna was approximately 14,000.
The role of international medical teams of Magna and Doctors Without Borders was a
significant complement to the availability of healthcare for everyone who needed it, because it
was provided proactively. Unlike the medical teams of the Ministry of Health, whom the
refugees had to contact on their own or accompanied by police officers and/or volunteers, the
medical teams of Magna and of Doctors Without Borders regularly approached the refugees
and performed so-called quick screening of their general condition. They moved about all over
the camp, which demonstrated their required adaptability to the people and to the conditions
of work.
The importance, but also the economic feasibility of a preventive approach to healthcare of
migrants in irregular situations was confirmed by the Report of the European Union Agency for
Fundamental Rights (FRA) of September 2015, which presented a model for calculation of costs
in the event of hypertension and prenatal care of migrants using the example of three
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