Tetovo, 6 February 2026 (MIA) — The new premises of the Institute of Transfusion Medicine regional transfusion center were officially commissioned Friday at the Tetovo Clinical Hospital. Construction works began in 2024 and cost the institute Mden 8.3 million.

"The Tetovo center is one of the four centers of the Institute of Transfusion Medicine, including the ones in Shtip, Bitola and Skopje as the central one," the institute's director Amir Elezi said at the commissioning ceremony.

He said the institute saw a record number of blood donors — 60,222 — in 2025. This number is expected to grow even more in 2026 "because surgical clinics, especially cancer patients, are waiting for us for blood and blood products," Elezi said.

According to Minister of Health Azir Aliu, health authorities were decentralizing health services to increase access to care across the country. He urged locals to donate blood "because blood is a vital part of every citizen and at the moment when we need it most, we should have it stored in real time."

The regional transfusion center in Tetovo comprises three smaller transfusion centers, in Gostivar, Kichevo and Struga. The regional center processes blood collected from the other centers, provides outpatient services (medical exams and tests), organizes blood drives and supplies clinics and hospitals in this region with blood and blood products. mr/