Building health systems capacity in injury and violence prevention in Serbia

A train the trainer workshop using TEACH VIP was held on 15–16 May in Belgrade, attended by 30 senior public health professionals from 17 of the 23 Serbian regional institutes of public health. The meeting was organized by WHO, the Ministry of Health and the Institute of Public Health Belgrade, a WHO collaborating centre for injury prevention and safety promotion.

Assistant Minister of Health, Dr Vesna Knjeginjic, opened the meeting and said “building capacity of health systems is a priority in the intersectoral response to injury and violence prevention in Serbia”. Dr Zsofia Pusztai, WHO representative, emphasized that injury and violence prevention are priority areas in the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and welcomed the government’s collaboration.

The workshop was delivered by the staff of the Institute of Public Health Belgrade and WHO, and comprised a series of lectures and small group discussions, with the active engagement participants. At the close, participants were enthusiastic about using TEACH VIP to train staff and students at their respective institutes of public health. It was also proposed that the training be used for continuous professional development. Materials had been translated into Serbian and were shared with participants. The workshop was rated very highly.