PRESIDENT MESIC OPENS VIRTUAL OUTPATIENT CENTRE ON VIS ISLAND

KOMIZA, Nov 25 (Hina) - President Stipe Mesic opened a virtual outpatient centre in Komiza on the island of Vis on Sunday, thus ending his two-day visit. The opening of the centre in Komiza marked the end of the most important part of Island Tele-Medicine, a project of the Academy of Medical Sciences, which was initiated by Mesic's Office. As of now, outpatient centres on the islands of the central and southern Adriatic (Vis, Lastovo, Mljet, Brac, Solta) have direct telecommunication contact with Split, so patients do not have to travel to Split to be examined by specialists. By opening several virtual medical centres, Croatia has stepped into Europe in the best possible light as even the developed countries are at the beginnings as regards such centres, said Mesic. He added the results achieved in this field had been recognised on the international level, putting Croatia at the forefront in the development of tele-medicine in Southeast Europe. This is the best confirmation that Croatia must not hesitate but make radical turnabouts and take shortcuts to surpass the developed world, said the President, emphasising Croatian experts had both knowledge and creativity. Mesic suggested expanding the tele-medicine project to all inhabited islands, as well as isolated area in Lika and Gorski Kotar. (hina) ha