Minister Damjanović and Dr. Eraković officially open the conference of radiologists and oncologists of South East Europe

   

The meeting of the South East European Regional Network for Radiotherapy and Oncology, organized by the Clinical Centre of Montenegro in cooperation with the Ministry of Science on 7-8 September, was officially opened today by the Minister of Science, Dr. Sanja Damjanović, and the Director of the Clinical Centre of Montenegro, Dr. Jevto Eraković.

The topic of the meeting, which was attended by directors of oncology centres from the countries of the region, was the formation of a network of radiologists and oncologists of the region, which is one of the stages in further development of the project of the South-East Europe International Institute for Sustainable Technologies, which envisages the implementation of hadron cancer therapy with research in biomedicine. This means that patients will be simultaneously examined by oncologists from different parts of Europe.
   

Dr. Jevto Eraković, Director of the Clinical Centre of Montenegro, talked about the Telemedicine project, which was launched earlier this year to electronically connect the largest healthcare institution with other healthcare institutions in the country.

- All state institutions are obliged to support this project and as soon as the opportunity has been given to the Clinical Centre to provide its support, we did not hesitate. We are pleased that our oncologists have the opportunity to exchange experiences with leading experts and colleagues from South East Europe, because the ultimate goal of this meeting is to establish a South East European Oncology Network and we would like the seat of the network to be located in the Clinical Centre, Dr. Eraković said.
   

The Minister of Science Dr. Sanja Damjanović familiarized the participants with the SEEIIST project and introduced them to the upcoming phase, which involves the establishment of a clinical network that will enable radiologists and oncologists throughout the region to mutually connect, establish contacts with colleagues at the Institute, as well as at other renowned European centres and hospitals.

- This is not just about networking of the oncologists of the region; the goal is to strengthen the infrastructure, because it is important to link oncological institutions, not only with the Institute, but also with European oncology institutions, Minister Damjanović said, indicating that the Ministry of Science recently applied for funds in the amount of two million euros and that the concept of “Western Balkans Radiology and Oncology Network” was nominated for support within the Multi-beneficiary IPA 2019.

- The importance of strengthening the infrastructure is reflected in the establishment of an electronic cancer registry. This means that one patient will simultaneously be examined by oncologists from different parts of Europe and the goal is to create an international committee, Minister Damjanović said in a statement for the media, announcing the preparatory phase of the SEEIIST project, for which a million euros were allocated in order to start the development of a detailed technical design, which is done in CERN.

The participants of the two-day conference who held presentations were: Prof. Dr. Vladimir Todorović, Director of the Clinic for Oncology and Radiotherapy of the Clinical Centre of Montenegro, Prof. Mimoza Ristova, Faculty of Natural Sciences and Mathematics, Ss. Cyril and Methodius University in Skopje, Prim. Dr. Zorica Tomašević, Institute for Oncology and Radiology, Belgrade, Dr. Salmin Salković, Clinic for Oncology and Radiotherapy of the Clinical Centre of Montenegro, Dr. Mladen Mitev, Institute for Nuclear Research and Nuclear Energy, Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, Sofia, Dr. Lediu Bregu, Hygeia Hospital Tirana, Albania, Dr. Slavica Marić, Affidea, Banja Luka, Dr. Aleksandar Čelebić, Clinic for Oncology and Radiotherapy of the Clinical Centre of Montenegro, Prof. Dr. Vlada Kovčin, Onkomed, Belgrade, Serbia, Dr. Nikola Vasev, Director of the University Clinic for Radiotherapy, Skopje, Macedonia, and Dr. Dušanka Tešanović, Institute of Oncology