The wife of the President of the Republic of Macedonia, Ms. Maja Ivanova, today visited the Emergency Room within the University Pediatric Clinic in Skopje, where the launch of the construction works for its reconstruction was marked.

The reconstruction and adaptation of the space within the University Clinic of Children's Diseases into a Pediatric Emergency Room is a result of the National Fundraising Campaign, which was implemented under the auspices of the wife of the President of the Republic of Macedonia, Ms. Maja Ivanova.

Ms. Maja Ivanova said that the national campaign under the slogan "Help on time" for raising funds for reconstruction and adaptation of the space within the Clinic, launched in April, ended successfully and 250,000 EUR have been collected, or five times more than the primary projections.

Right here, less than six months ago, Ms. Maja said, we set a goal to collect the necessary 50,000 EUR for reconstruction and adaptation of some of the premises within the Children's Hospital for the Emergency Room.

"Instigated by the social responsibility, led by the mother's instinct, and above all by the enormous support that I receive from my husband, who told me "you can do it because it is about the future of our children", I accepted the invitation of the visionary of construction of such an Emergency Room, the Director of the Hospital, Aspazija Sofijanova, to be the patron of such a humane, noble mission because there is nothing more precious than the lives of our children", Ms. Maja Ivanova said.

Ms. Maja expressed her gratitude to the donor of the funds which are not only spent for reconstruction of several rooms within the Clinic, but for reconstruction of the whole floor, namely, the Turkish Agency for Cooperation and Coordination (TIKA), which donated more than 200,000 EUR, which, as noted, covers not only construction, but also provision of adequate medical supplies and equipment, furniture and other things necessary for normal functioning of the Emergency Room.

The wife of President Ivanov thanked the citizens of the Republic of Macedonia who called the telephone number 14321 and donated symbolic 100 MKD, hence, around 10,000 EUR have been collected, and the media through which the campaign reached the citizens.

"When it comes to children, there are no doubts, limits , there is nothing because children are the ones who have really united us regardless of religious, ethnic affiliation or gender", Ms. Ivanova said.

The Director of the Clinicm, Aspazija Sofijanova, said that there is space in the building where the so-called ambulance or triage will be located, which will be open 24/7, where children will be initially treated.

"The space is adequately arranged into ambulance and it is visible. Each floor in the respective pathology will have an extra room for patient examinations according to the "My turn" program, which will be scheduled for the next 45 days to two months, and our doctors will examine children in each department. The hospital part will function normally. This reconstruction will last and will be much better in the next two months, Sofijanova added.

Mahmut Cevik, program coordinator of TIKA - Skopje, said that the good cooperation between Macedonia and Turkey continues.

"We have launched the project including the emergency room and the ambulance, which is about 400 m². The project initially was around 50,000 EUR, and we have increased the amount to cover all segments. Funds for full reconstruction have been increased by about four and a half times, so the budget now exceeds 200,000 EUR", Cevik said.