Our findings clarified the necessity to establish ethnically and regionally sensitive programs to solve the malnutrition problems.

Background Thousands of children migrate to Europe each year in search of safety and the promise of a better life. Many of them transited through Serbia in 2018. Children journey alone or along with their family members or caregivers. Accompanied migrant children (AMC) and particularly unaccompanied migrant children (UMC) have specific needs and experience difficulties in accessing services. Uncertainty about the journey and daily stressors affect their physical and mental health, making them one of the most vulnerable migrant sub-populations. The aim of the study is to describe the demographic, health profile of UMC and AMC and the social services they accessed to better understand the health and social needs of this vulnerable population. Methods We conducted a retrospective, descriptive study using routinely collected program data of UMC and AMC receiving medical, mental and social care at the Médecins sans Frontières clinic, in Belgrade, Serbia from January 2018 through January 2019. Results There were 3869 children who received medical care (1718 UMC, 2151 AMC). UMC were slightly older, mostly males (99%) from Afghanistan (82%). Skin conditions were the most prevalent among UMC (62%) and AMC (51%). Among the 66 mental health consultations (45 UMC, 21 AMC), most patients were from Afghanistan, with 98% of UMC and 67% of AMC being male. UMC as well as AMC were most likely to present with symptoms of anxiety (22 and 24%). There were 24 UMC (96% males and 88% from Afghanistan) that received social services. They had complex and differing case types. 83% of UMC required assistance with accommodation and 75% with accessing essential needs, food and non-food items. Several required administrative assistance (12.5%) and nearly a third (29%) legal assistance. 38% of beneficiaries needed medical care. Most frequently provided service was referral to a state Centre for social welfare. Conclusion Our study shows that unaccompanied and accompanied migrant children have a lot of physical, mental health and social needs. These needs are complex and meeting them in the context of migration is difficult. Services need to better adapt by improving access, flexibility, increasing accommodation capacity and training a qualified workforce.

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Strabismus is a motor-sensory anomaly, i.e., eye position and binocular vision anomaly. It occurs in both children and adults, and leads to a high risk of vision problems if not treated in time. Capacities of the Serbian healthcare system face significant challenges in providing surgical treatment for strabismus. This study was conducted as a combined, quantitative and qualitative cross-sectional study from early May to late June 2019 in secondary and tertiary healthcare institutions with ophthalmological organisational units. Out of 46 healthcare institutions that met the criteria for inclusion, 30 submitted the requested data. These 30 institutions employed 211 ophthalmology specialists, of which 14 (7%) stated that they had been trained to perform surgical treatment of strabismus, while two (1%) specialists were currently undergoing training. Of the overall number of healthcare institutions encompassed by this research, eight (27%) were providing these surgeries. Thirteen (43%) healthcare institutions had an adequate number of anaesthesiologists for their healthcare level. Eleven (37%) healthcare institutions listed a lack of adequately equipped facilities to perform surgical treatment of strabismus, i.e., lack of a dedicated operating room. Out of the total number of healthcare institutions, four (13%) had an adequate set of instruments for surgical strabismus treatment. Seven (23%) healthcare institutions listed that they were able to procure the necessary consumables for this type of surgery without hindrance. The healthcare system in the Republic of Serbia must be empowered in the segments that have been recognised as weak links in the provision of surgical treatment of strabismus. This means, primarily, educating ophthalmology specialists to perform these surgeries and referring doctors to specialisations in the field of anaesthesiology, reanimation and intensive care.

Objective. The aim of this study was to compare mortality of patients after colorectal cancer surgery between hospitals in Serbia, which performed organized colorectal cancer screening and those which did not. Methods. The database included all patients who underwent surgery for colorectal cancer after the introduction of organized colorectal cancer screening Program in Serbia, in 2014-2015. The target group were patients 50-74 years old in the colorectal screening program, and the data was compared to the age-matched group from hospitals which did not perform the program logistic regression. Results. The was used to determine the significance of the differences in the observed variables, and the predictors of mortality after colorectal cancer surgery. Results. The 3631 patients were included in this study. The majority of them were operated due to the rectal cancer 2111 (58%), while 1062 (29.2%) were operated due to the colon cancer. Postoperative survival was significantly better in the target group in organized screening program (p<0.001; OR=0.46; 95%CI 0.33-0.62). There was a significant difference between patients who underwent surgery for colorectal cancer localized in the left colon, compared to the patients with localization in the right colon (p<0.001). The mortality after the surgery of colorectal cancer (4.7%) was followed by high comorbidity of cardiovascular diseases (24%). Conclusion. Patients included in the organized colorectal cancer screening have lower postoperative mortality than these not included. This indicates the necessity for further work on organized colorectal cancer screening, in order to reduce postoperative and overall mortality.