A new medical clinic inaugurated today in the village of
Skromë/Skrovna in Kosovo will provide essential primary health
care and other medical services for the nearly 1,600 residents who,
until now, have had to travel more than 20 kms to access the
nearest medical facility.

The public health sector in Kosovo is in urgent need of
improvement at all levels but especially in the provision of
primary health care in remote, rural areas. Distances to the
nearest medical facility is often a major put-off factor for rural
residents seeking medical treatment.

The clinic in Skromë/Skrovna will host a general
practitioner as well as paediatric, pharmaceutical and dental care
services.

"Having these medical services on their doorstep will not only
improve the health of this community, but will also help reduce the
overall cost of medical treatments," says IOM's Chief of Mission in
Kosovo, Nidia Casati.

The construction of the clinic, a joint effort by the IOM Trust
Fund, the Kosovo Protection Corps (KPC) and the municipality of
Vushtrri/Vu?itrn and funded by the British government, is the
latest in a line of projects aimed at rebuilding or rehabilitating
the infrastructure in Kosovo.

Since the programme started nine years ago with funding from
various governments including the United States, the Netherlands,
Denmark and Germany, the IOM Trust Fund, set up to support the KPC
in fulfilling its civilian protection mandate, has carried out 217
projects ranging from the provision of clean water and sanitation,
renovation of public facilities, construction of roads, bridges,
fire stations, and waste disposal sites, Earth Day clean-up
campaigns, rehabilitation of schools and housing and reforestation
programmes.

The KPC, a multi-ethnic civilian emergency services organization
was created in the aftermath of the conflict in Kosovo. Since then,
IOM has been the coordination agency responsible for developing the
capacity of the KPC to fulfil its mandate.

For further information, please contact:

Bekim Ajdini

IOM Kosovo

Tel: +38138 24 90 42

E-mail: "mailto:bajdini@iom.int">bajdini@iom.int