“We will make dental services free for everyone, starting with older people in March. We just need to include this in the budget because it involves a substantial amount of money. We have to find the funds. This will be a huge change for people. At this point, we have forgotten what dentists even look like,” Vučić said during an appearance on Informer TV.
Vučić added that only emergency dental procedures are currently available free of charge.
“Since 2006, the option of so-called emergency procedures has remained in place. You can go if you have a swollen tooth and need to have it extracted. But you cannot go to have a tooth repaired, have medication applied, receive prosthetic dental treatment or get dentures. We will restore all of these services,” he said.
Prenatal NIPT tests to be free for everyone
Vučić said that non-invasive prenatal testing (NIPT) would also be provided free of charge to everyone.
He noted that prenatal tests are expensive and said the state would enable expectant mothers to have their babies screened for possible genetic syndromes.
“This will provide significant help and support, allowing them to identify any potential issues in good time. Almost nowhere else are these tests covered by the state,” he said.
He also said that medication for Duchenne muscular dystrophy would be provided free of charge.
“We will invest six billion, plus another seven billion dinars. That amounts to more than €110 million for rare diseases and innovative treatments, immediately,” Vučić said.
Vučić noted that new hospitals and clinical centres were also being built, including the Tiršova 2 children's hospital. However, he said one of the main problems facing the healthcare system was the reluctance of doctors to work in rural areas, adding that this would change through higher salaries for those who took up such positions.
“We could not even recruit staff for palliative care in Batajnica. We have the same problem in Kruševac and Ugrinovci. In Ugrinovci, we cannot even establish an outpatient clinic because nobody wants to come and work there. People simply do not want to go to Ugrinovci,” Vučić said.
According to Vučić, if he receives voters' support in the elections, all health centres and hospitals will be renovated over the next three to five years.
“Once we renovate all the hospitals and health centres, everything will be completed over the next three, four or five years. Everything, absolutely everything. This will be my most important programme. I will visit every facility, including those in Smederevo, Požarevac, Bor, Zaječar, Zrenjanin, Kikinda, Sombor, Subotica and Sremska Mitrovica. The hospital in Prokuplje is opening, while work in Leskovac and Vranje is nearing completion. Loznica is also nearing completion, and Šabac will have to be renovated as well. That will cost €120 million. Valjevo and Čačak are also on the list, not to mention Užice. We will get all of this done,” he said.
Vučić added that the government would have sufficient funds for these projects if economic growth reached between 4.2 and 4.5 per cent.
He also criticised those who argue that Serbia's healthcare system should follow the American or European models, saying they often fail to mention that many medical services provided free of charge in Serbia cost substantial amounts in other countries.
“A newspaper editor in Serbia spent a considerable amount of time in hospital during the COVID-19 pandemic. Had he received the same treatment during that period in a less well-equipped hospital in the United States, Switzerland or Germany, he would have had to pay around €340,000 because of the length of his stay. He does not realise how grateful he should be to the Serbian state for making all of that treatment available to him free of charge,” Vučić said.
He stressed that people often assume such arrangements are standard and guaranteed, but that this is not necessarily the case.
“Go to the United States, Germany, Switzerland or Austria and see whether you can get healthcare for free. You cannot. And I want people to see that when we allocate so much money, we can deliver on these commitments. I want them to walk into a health centre and see that it is clean. Artificial intelligence will be used, and everyone will have their own medical record. AI will help doctors with diagnosis, patient treatment and everything else. The system is moving to a much higher level,” he said.
Vučić also stressed the need to strengthen preventive healthcare, saying that although much had been accomplished, he was not satisfied with the results.
“I am not satisfied because we have poured so much money into Belgrade,” he said, citing the Dedinje cardiovascular institute, which he described as looking like a space shuttle, as well as the clinical hospital centre and maternity hospital.
He added that the Clinical Centre in Niš had been completed, while work was under way in Novi Pazar. Hospitals in Leskovac and Vranje had also been renovated.
“We are now working on Kikinda as well, and we have renovated the hospital in Loznica. Progress has been made in many places. Prokuplje has a hospital that is better than those in Niš, Kragujevac and even Belgrade,” he stressed.