Bjegovic-Mikanovic, Vesna

Marinkovic-Eric, Jelena

Vesna Bjegovic-Mikanovic

Jelena Marinkovic-Eric

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Letter to Editors: Misunderstanding should be avoided by precise formulation: Comment on Jerliu et al. “Public Health in Kosovo after five difficult years of independence”

Latein und Griechisch in Nordrhein-Westfalen (LGNRW - E-Journal)

Bjegovic-Mikanovic, Marinkovic-Eric. Misunderstanding should be avoided by precise formulation: Commenton Jerliu et al. “Public Health in Kosovo after five difficult years of independence” (Letter to editors). SEEJPH2014, posted: 19 April 2014. DOI 10.12908/SEEJPH-2014-21.LETTER TO EDITORS  Misunderstanding should be avoided by precise formulation:Comment on Jerliu et al. “Public Health in Kosovo after five difficult yearsof independence”Vesna Bjegovic-Mikanovic1, Jelena Marinkovic-Eric21 University  of  Belgrade,  Faculty  of  Medicine,  Centre-School  of  Public  Health  andManagement, Institute of Social Medicine, Belgrade, Serbia;2 University of Belgrade, Faculty of Medicine, Institute of Medical Statistics and Informatics,Belgrade, Serbia.Corresponding author: Prof. Dr. Vesna Bjegovic-Mikanovic, Faculty of Medicine, Belgrade University;Address: Dr Subotica 15, 11000 Belgrade, Serbia;Telephone: +381112643 830; Email: bjegov@med.bg.ac.rs1Bjegovic-Mikanovic, Marinkovic-Eric. Misunderstanding should be avoided by precise formulation: Commenton Jerliu et al. “Public Health in Kosovo after five difficult years of independence” (Letter to editors). SEEJPH2014, posted: 19 April 2014. DOI 10.12908/SEEJPH-2014-21.In this review paper, Jerliu and co-authors describe the recent steps to reorganize the systemof Health Care in Kosovo1 (1-3). Only at the end of the abstract and the conclusions theauthors speak of five years since the (unilateral) Kosovar  declaration of independence (notcited among the references) or elsewhere in the text of  “transformation to an independentstate”, whereas in the title, unfortunately, they speak only of independence. Also, the authorsstate that Kosovo currently has been recognized by 105 countries, however, the UN familyconsists of 193 countries, and – as they indicate correctly – Kosovo is not yet a member ofthe  World  Health  Organization.  The  precisely  formulated  expression  in  internationaldocuments is as follows:  “The designation of Kosovo is without prejudice to positions ofstatus,  and in line with the United Nations Security  Council  Resolution 1244/99 and theInternational  Court  of  Justice opinion on the Kosovo declaration of  independence”.  Theimprecise wording in this paper can lead to misunderstanding which should be avoided (4). Beyond the difficult definition of the status of Kosovo in the current transition phase, a moreimportant  deficit  of  this  paper  is  the  lack  of  historical  reference  with  regard  to  thedevelopment after World War II. In 1950, infant mortality in that part of Serbia was 141/1000live births (5), down to 24 in 1995 (6). Likewise, maternal mortality has been reduced due toimproved  health  status  in  general,  based  on  mother  and  child  programmes,  healthycommunity  interventions,  increased  standards  of  living,  and  other  interventions.  Healthservices in Kosovo were the same as in the entire Yugoslavia including the network of healthinstitutions [796 inhabitants  per physician (5)], particularly primary health care centres [anetwork  of  22  “dom  zdravlja’s” and  379  general  practitioner  units  (5)],  staffed  withcommitted health professionals as is cited by the authors from the Health Sector Strategy(HSS) of Kosovo. Also, the State Health Insurance System of Serbia, based on solidarity,included the population of Kosovo as any other people in the former republics of Yugoslavia.Therefore, today, Kosovo can build on the historical achievements during that period whichshould have been acknowledged in a more pronounced way. However, as the authors write,“…the nineties left Kosovo with a very inefficient health system characterized by a lack oftrained personnel, disparities in health force distribution, leading to variations in access toprimary care,  corruption and informal payments  as well  as deteriorated child  and adulthealth indicators”.  This statement  seems to be somewhat contradictory to the HSS, citedabove from this paper.Hopefully,  one day,  an unprejudiced analysis  of the development of the health  system inKosovo before and after World War II will become possible.References1. EC. ENLARGEMENT. “Kosovo* This designation is without prejudice to positionson status,  and is  in  line  with UNSCR 1244 and the  ICJ  Opinion on the  KosovoDeclaration  of  Independence”.  http://ec.europa.eu/enlargement/countries/detailed-country-information/kosovo/ (accessed: April 19, 2014).2. UNSCR  RESOLUTION  1244,  1999.  http://www.un.org/docs/scres/1999/sc99.htm(accessed: April 19, 2014).3. International Court of Justice. Accordance with International Law of the UnilateralDeclaration of Independence in Respect of Kosovo, Advisory Opinion. I.C.J. Reports2010,  p.403.  http://www.icj-cij.org/docket/files/141/15987.pdf  (accessed:  April  19,2014).1  Kosovo*: This designation is without prejudice to positions on status, and is in line with UNSCR 1244 and theICJ Opinion on the Kosovo Declaration of Independence”. http://ec.europa.eu/enlargement/countries/detailed-country-information/kosovo/ (accessed April 19, 2014).2Bjegovic-Mikanovic, Marinkovic-Eric. Misunderstanding should be avoided by precise formulation: Commenton Jerliu et al. “Public Health in Kosovo after five difficult years of independence” (Letter to editors). SEEJPH2014, posted: 19 April 2014. DOI 10.12908/SEEJPH-2014-21.4. The Brussels Agreement of 2013. http://eeas.europa.eu/top_stories/2013/190413__eu-facilitated_dialogue_en.htm (accessed: April 19, 2014).5. Statistical  Office  of  the  Republic  of  Serbia.  Statistical  yearbook  1990.  Belgrade:SORS  1990.  http://webrzs.stat.gov.rs/WebSite/Default.aspx  (accessed:  April  19,2014).6. UNMIK. Kosovo State of the Environment Report. http://enrin.grida.no/htmls/kosovo/Kosovo_SOE_part1.pdf (accessed: April 19, 2014).___________________________________________________________© 2014 Bjegovic-Mikanovic et al.; This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the CreativeCommons  Attribution  License  (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0),  which  permits  unrestricted  use,distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.3

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Letter to Editors: Misunderstanding should be avoided by precise formulation: Comment on Jerliu et al. “Public Health in Kosovo after five difficult years of independence”

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