RETROSPECTIVE 2012 - Investments in HEALTH CARE that attracted greatest attention of eKapija users in 2012

eKapija`s investment team has recently done an analysis and formed a rank list of investments and investment ideas that attracted the greatest attention of eKapija users in 2011. The results are very interesting, some are expected, but there is a plenty of surprises, which is why we`ve decided to share this information with you.

We present you the most interesting projects in HEALTH CARE.

Unstable pharmaceutical market in Serbia is what marked almost the whole year 2012. Pharmaceutical companies complained that they were losing millions because the prices of drugs were calculated at the exchange rate that had not changed significantly since May 2011, and then the Regulation on drug pricing criteria was finally adopted at the end of 2012 (setting the exchange rate for calculating drug prices at 113 dinars per euro). The pharmaceutical market was also unstable due to a shortage of certain drugs, whose prices later went up.

The new year 2013 has come and thousands of citizens of Serbia are still without health care cards. Despite the announcements, verification of health care cards for over 50,000 workers and their family members is an impossible mission even in late January. For the time being, there is no solution for employees whose health care premiums are not paid by their employers, and owing to an omission in the design of the Regulations, not all people can receive a certificate guaranteeing the right to free health care to children, pregnant women and new mothers, regardless of whether premiums are paid or not. Early this year we were even more shaken by the images revealing the true horror of the pediatric ward of the Eye Clinic of the Clinical Center of Serbia, where cockroaches are like pets, walls are falling apart, doors cannot be closed, and the inventory is needless to comment.

The City Institute for Lung Diseases and Tuberculosis is still searching for a location to move to, although it's been more than two months since it was closed at the order of the Building Inspection.

Considering the usual queues in hospitals and the months of waiting for certain specialist examinations, it is needless to say to that we cannot be satisfied with the situation in the health care system of Serbia.

(Nis Clinical Center)

However, eKapija users gave advantage to some more cheerful topics in a belief that better days were still coming for the health care in Serbia.

The first-ranked project on our list is the reconstruction of four clinical centers in Serbia, which should be financed with the proceeds of a loan extended by the European Investment Bank (EIB) and with the money from the Serbian budget, in the amount of EUR 200 million. However, although the former finance minister, Zoran Stankovic, announced that a tender should be announced in May 2012 and that the reconstruction should be completed by 2015, these deadlines are not respected.

The current health minister announced that the reconstruction of clinical centers in Serbia would commence in May 2013, when construction works are expected to kick off in Nis, followed by the commencement of works in Novi Sad and, by the year's end, in Kragujevac too. However, project documentation for the Clinical Center of Serbia is still the furthest from completion. Despite the fact that it's been five years since the reconstruction of clinical centers in Serbia was mentioned for the first time, there are still no preliminary designs for the Clinical Center of Serbia, meaning that it cannot be covered by the action plan for 2013.

The second place on our list belongs to a more cheerful story - a modernly equipped maternity ward that is not financed by the state. All pregnant women who want a special treatment at their delivery and conditions similar to those in the most modern hospitals in Europe now have an opportunity to give birth in a private maternity ward, which the Special Gynecology Hospital Jevremova opened in its 22nd year of operations.

What makes this year's list similar to the one from the last year is a great interest in stem cells and treatment with these cells. There was a terrific news in December that the construction of the first public and family stem cell bank in Serbia can be expected to begin by the end of that month, and it was added that an agreement had already been signed with contractors. However, the work did not start because, as it was announced by people at the Mother and Child Institute Dr Vukan Cupic in Belgrade whose yard is designated to host aforementioned bank, the weather first needs to improve. Once the public stem cell bank is finished (the deadline is end-2013), all those requiring a treatment with stem cells will be able to get an appropriate sample for free if it exists in any of the public stem cell banks around the world.

Another private hospital was opened in Belgrade, Visegradska Street, in mid-March 2012. After opening a health center in New Belgrade and two polyclinics at Slavija Square, Euromedik system, which exists for as many as 12 years, offered its patients a treatment in the General Hospital in Visegradska Street as well. The new 2,500 square meter facility has 40 cabinets with 20 diagnostic and 20 stationary beds on 10 floors, and employs 50 people.

The fifth-ranked story is an announcement that the citizens of Serbia will receive electronic health care cards as of March 2012. As it was announced, the replacement of health care cards with electronic cards, which would be valid for 10 years and allow for a quicker and easier physical examination and acquisition of drugs at pharmacies, was supposed to start in Valjevo. However, people living in the city on the Kolubara River and the rest of Serbia's population still bring their old health care cards when going to the doctor.

The sixth-ranked investment on the list is another project involving stem cells. InScientiaFides stem cell biobank from San Marino opened its branch office in Serbia in early 2012 and made it possible for future parents in Serbia to store stem cells from their baby's umbilical cord blood for the period of 30 years.

The last on this year's Retrospective list is a story saying that couples awaiting artificial insemination in Serbia can now officially ask private clinics for help at the state's expense. After three unsuccessful tenders, the Republic Health Insurance Fund signed an agreement with a consortium comprising eight clinics to be included in the artificial insemination procedure. In addition to four hospitals in Belgrade and two hospitals in Novi Sad, an opportunity to take part in the artificial insemination procedure at the state's expense is also given to a hospital in Nis and in Leskovac. The Republic Health Insurance Fund will cover the costs of artificial insemination for 450 couples in private hospitals, for which RSD 111.6 million are set aside.

Take a look at the complete rank list of investments in the category of HEALTH CARE and compare it with your own opinions, expectations and assessments.

One more thing - have you already read which projects attracted your greatest attention in the categories of AGRICULTURE AND FOOD INDUSTRY, REAL ESTATE, INDUSTRY, TOURISM, ENTERTAINMENT AND RECREATION, TELECOMMUNICATIONS AND IT, TRANSPORTATION.

eKapija.com Beograd

Ministarstvo zdravlja Republike Srbije

Vlada Republike Srbije

EIB

Klinički centar Srbije Beograd

Univerzitetski klinički centar Niš

Klinički centar Kragujevac

Klinički centar Vojvodine

Specijalna bolnica za ginekologiju Jevremova sa porodilištem, Beograd

PLAVA POLIKLINIKA Tuzla

Institut za zdravstvenu zaštitu majke i deteta Srbije Dr Vukan Čupić Beograd

Republički fond za zdravstveno osiguranje Beograd

FormaPharm Engineering Group

Energoprojekt industrija a.d. Beograd

GPD Banković d.o.o. Surdulica

EUROMEDIK DOM ZDRAVLjA

Nacionalna služba za zapošljavanje Kragujevac

WHO - World Health Organization Beograd

I.S.F. Sirmia Beograd

Klinika Perinatal Novi Sad

GAK Narodni front Beograd

Gradski zavod za plućne bolesti i zaštitu od tuberkuloze Beograd