Children's hospital funded by Sheikha Fatima inaugurated in Kosovo

President Vjosa Osmani thanks the UAE for its help

A new hospital in Kosovo that was funded by Sheikha Fatima bint Mubarak, the Mother of the Nation, has been opened by the country's president.

Vjosa Osmani inaugurated the Sheikha Fatima Children's Hospital and Surgical Centre in Pristina, the country's capital, on Sunday.

The paediatric hospital, the first in Kosovo, has several specialised clinics, diagnostic departments and emergency services for mothers and children.

The hospital was built within the campus of the University Clinical Centre of Kosovo and is connected to its obstetrics and paediatrics departments.

It is fully equipped with advanced medical equipment, including intensive care units, and has radiology and procedure rooms.

At the inauguration, Ms Osmani thanked the UAE for its help. She also applauded the efforts of Sheikha Fatima, who is also the chairwoman of the General Women's Union, the Supreme Council for Motherhood and Childhood, and is supreme chairwoman of the Family Development Foundation.

The hospital is the largest humanitarian project in Kosovo focused on providing quality healthcare to children. Its opening also comes at a time when the spread of Covid-19 has placed an additional strain on healthcare resources in Kosovo.

Sunday's inauguration was attended by several ministers and dignitaries. These included Albin Kurti, prime minister of Kosovo; Arben Vitia, the country’s Minister of Health; Sheikh Abdullah bin Mohammed, chairman of the Department of Health Abu Dhabi; Maitha Al Shamsi, Minister of State; and Abdulsalam Al Rumaithi, UAE ambassador to Montenegro and non-resident ambassador to Kosovo.

Mr Kurti, Kosovo's prime minister, thanked the UAE and said the long-standing relationship between the two countries would only become stronger.

The hospital is built on an area of 11,000 square metres; it has four floors and 109 beds. Services provided include paediatric cardiology and paediatric surgery, emergency medicine and oncology.

The hospital’s emergency department will have an operating room. It will have outpatient clinics for internal medicine, surgery and oncology, as well as 14 consultation rooms.

Its neonatal intensive care unit has 44 beds, while the paediatric intensive care unit has 12.

The day Emirati troops came to help war-torn Kosovo - in pictures

Sheikh Mohamed Bin Zayed, Chief of Staff of the Armed Forces, joins Emirati officers during a training session in Canjuers, southern France, in July 1999, before their deployment to KFOR in Kosovo. Jack Dabaghian / AFP

Updated: September 14, 2021, 9:49 AM