The famous Belgrade gynecologist Jovan Rudić still likes to spend his free time in his native Bijela Polje, where he started his career.
For the past 18 years, he has been working at the Belgrade Gynecology and Obstetrics Clinic "Narodni Front", and he is considered one of the youngest and best experts in the field of gynecology. His interest in the medical profession began very early, even as a boy, he often visited the rooms of the Bjelo Polje hospital with his doctor father. .
"That smell of the hospital, which I fell in love with since I was six years old, determined my professional life, and the most favorite gifts and toys were the old medical instruments given to him by Ljilja, the instrument technician. And since I've always been more interested in girls, the choice for gynecology is not strange at all," Jovan says jokingly.
In Bijelo Polje, after graduating from medicine, he worked for two and a half years in the emergency service, after which he went to specialization in Belgrade, where he worked at the clinics of the Medical Academy, GAK "Narodni Front". Rudić often comes to Bijelo Polje, and each visit is time for several operations at the Bijelo Polje Hospital.
When it comes to gynecological problems in women, he states that the statistics are similar in Montenegro as in Serbia.
"In addition to breast and colon cancer, one of the biggest problems is cervical cancer, for which we are at the very top of Europe in terms of the number of patients, which is terrible, bearing in mind that it is a completely curable disease if detected in time. It is the ignorance and carelessness of the fairer sex. Doctors and the media bear a great responsibility, and special attention should be paid to their cooperation. According to official statistics, one woman dies of cervical cancer every day in Serbia. In addition, it is the most common cancer in the female population that is detected by a simple examination, which does not cost the individual or the state anything," said Rudić.
"In addition to breast and colon cancer, one of the biggest problems is cervical cancer, for which we belong to the very top of Europe in terms of the number of patients"
He believes that it is unacceptable that so many women die from cervical cancer, and we live in a time when organ transplantation is a common medical procedure.
"The first step is the constant education of the population. We have to reach every person, because the essence of medicine is in the prevention of diseases, not in solving intractable diseases. These examinations do not require money, but the good will of us who deal with this work and the patients," Rudić said, adding that the practice of gynecological examinations should be extended to rural clinics, where he worked as a general practitioner for a year.
Rudić explains that it is clear to him from these experiences that it is difficult to motivate women, especially from remote villages, to leave their property and work and go to gynecologists, which is all the more reason to open village clinics and for gynecological examinations.
"The rule is clear: once a year for a five-minute examination, it costs nothing and can save your life. While the number of cancers is increasing, the number of births is constantly decreasing. In Serbia, one Gornji Milanovac dies every year, 30.000 more people die than are born. And in Bijelo Polje, the number of births is half of what it was 30 years ago."
Regarding whether the increase in gynecological diseases has anything to do with later childbearing or not giving birth, the doctor says that the basic physiological function of a woman is to give birth during the reproductive period.
"With the fact that this limit is constantly shifting, and in our country it is becoming more and more normal for a woman to give birth in her fifties through in vitro fertilization, rather than in her twenties. Women should give birth because in this way, apart from being more numerous and happier, their reproductive health and the health of the entire nation are better protected."
Regarding the comparison of treatment methods in the world and in our environment, Rudić believes that we have the most expert people in the world and that hospitals are not made up of buildings but people.
"We also have much more experience in operations, precisely because of poor prevention and an uneducated population, we have more opportunities to do it. There are doctors who don't see these operations once a year, while we do it every day."
Rudić spends a large part of his free time with his parents in Bijelo Polje. It is rare to meet one's hometown without doing some surgery during the breaks of hanging out with friends.
"It is an emotion and something that binds me to my city. I would like to spend more time in Bijelo Polje. I love swimming in Lima and spending time with my friends in a pub".
Although he received tempting offers abroad, he does not want to go, and he would not trade any sea in the world for swimming in Lim and Sinjavac.
Law on mandatory inspection
Rudić says that it is primitive to get cancer of the cervix because only for it the causes of its occurrence are known to medicine.
"It is the only female cancer for which we know the exact cause of its occurrence, and it is detected in the simplest way - with a test that is painless, requires only two sticks, gauze and a spatula and takes only a few minutes. Another method is a colonoscope. And when you imagine that someone only had to spare a few minutes before surgery or death, then you realize how terrible it is to get sick with this type of disease, which takes on the elements of an epidemic. It is only necessary to come for an examination once a year, which is free of charge. However, women see a doctor when the cancer is in an advanced stage. In Montenegro, it is not a rare case that women do not go for an examination since their last delivery, no matter how many years have passed. That is why the only solution is a legal obligation, as is the case in Norway, where this cancer has been eradicated."
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