FIRST ANNIVERSARY OF ULTRA-SOUND CENTRE

Belgrade, October 25, 2005 – Their Royal Highnesses Crown Prince Alexander II and Princess Katherine have attended today the ceremony to mark the first anniversary of the Centre for Ultra-sound Diagnostics at the Serbian Clinical Centre opened last year under Princess Katherine’s auspices.

Journalists, directors of the clinical centres and other medical institutions from across Serbia could see one out of 30 ultrasound machines for diagnostics in radiology and gynaecology which they have already received or will soon get for their hospitals.

“I am very glad that we will be able to make a number of clinical centres in Serbia happy with these ultrasound machines. My husband Crown Prince Alexander and I are trying to bring over the best known experts from various medical fields in order to exchange experience with our doctors. We do the same with the top medical centres and universities around the world,” Princess Katherine told a news conference.

The Centre for Ultrasound Diagnostics ‘Dr. Aleksandar Margulis’ was opened as the 64th associate member of the World Health Organisation for the continued and general education in diagnostic ultrasound within the ‘Thomas Jefferson Institute’ from Philadelphia, USA, which has offices in 58 countries.

Last year, the Centre was opened as a joint project of The Princess Katherine Foundation and Lifeline, North America, a humanitarian organisation also under the patronage of Princess Katherine, Thomas Jefferson University’s Institute for Ultrasound and ‘Stavros S. Niarkos Foundation from New York.

In a year, as Dr. Aleksandar Ljubic, Deputy Director of the Gynaecology Clinic within the Serbian Clinical Centre and the co-director of the ‘Dr. Aleksandar Margulis’ Centre said, 40 doctors have been additionally educated and enabled to use these machines.

“Their knowledge will be tested and verified by the ‘Thomas Jefferson Institute’ and after that they will start using them and training other colleagues.”

The directors of the medical institutions from Belgrade, Novi Sad, Nis, Kragujevac, Kraljevo and Aleksandrovac, expressed their gratitude to Their Royal Highnesses for their unselfish care for the Serbian health system which they have shown again this time.

The remaining 24 ultrasound machines will soon be delivered to the clinical and other medical centres across Serbia. So far, six medical institutions have already received the equipment which has been in use to educate doctors in the field of ultrasound diagnostics.