February the 5th, 2021 - Croatia's residents have rated the performance of the Croatian health system throughout the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, with a mixed bag of results.
As Poslovni Dnevnik writes, the availability of healthcare services during the coronavirus pandemic was assessed as good by 42 percent of Croatian citizens, every fifth term of examination, check up or procedure agreed before the pandemic was prolonged. This is part of the results obtained from an exclusive survey conducted by Ipsos for the health portal zelimzdravlje.com.
The results of the panel discussion were commented by the Minister of Health Vili Beros, Dr. Lucian Vukelic, the Director of the Croatian Health Insurance Fund, Dr. Renata Sabljar Dracevac, the President of the Parliamentary Committee for Health and Social Policy and MEPs doc.dr.sc. Tomislav Sokol and Suncana Glavak.
Due to the global pandemic of the novel coronavirus, the Croatian health system has adapted and introduced different ways of functioning, additional traumas with earthquakes have sadly also completely or partially disabled some institutions. The extent to which healthcare is available to Croatian residents is, as stated, the basis of the research conducted by Ipsos for the zelimzdravlje.com portal.
As was previously mentioned, according to the results, 42 percent of citizens rated the Croatian health system as good, and 14 percent rated it poorly. During the pandemic, 41 percent of people had a healthcare service previously agreed upon, of which a mere 16.5 percent managed to realise said procedure, while 11.2 percent of them had their care postponed and didn't receive a new date, and nine percent of the survey's respondents received their new postponed examination, check up or procedure.
The majority of citizens, 58.2 percent of them, managed to contact their primary care physician, 16.5 percent of them managed to do so with difficulty, and 3.1 percent failed to reach their primary care physician entirely.
Respondents who used the Croatian health system during the pandemic mostly felt safe, 48.2 percent of them claimed they did so, and rated the healthcare they received as 4.10. The Croatian health system was rated less safely and more poorly by those who didn't even use health services during the pandemic. It is a result that once again proves the discomfort and fear that the pandemic has caused in people who often decide to postpone necessary healthcare services on their own for fear of coming into contact with the novel virus and/or contracting the infection.
The results were presented at an online panel discussion organised by zelimzdravlje.com, where, as one of the panelists, the Minister of Health Vili Beros said:
''Many more economically stable and stronger countries have the task of dealing with all the challenges of the pandemic. When it comes down to it - our togetherness, our courage, solidarity and care for others is without competition,''
''The pandemic has so far cost the Croatian health system a massive 1.3 billion kuna, '' said Dr. Lucian Vukelic, the director of the Croatian Health Insurance Fund:
''Everything we needed to do, what we put in the budget, we managed to finance, at the end of last year we managed to solve most of the debt to pharmacies. The Croatian health system as such is stable for the time being. One billion and almost 300 million kuna spent so far on COVID-19 is a really big number that we've managed to finance so far,''
''The EU health programme has become independent and has increased by 12 times,'' commented doc.dr.sc. Tomislav Sokol, MEP, who presented the details of that program,me while MEP Suncana Glavak brought a cross-section of the European reaction to the pandemic crisis and the challenges facing Europe.
The experiences of oncology patients in Croatia during the coronavirus pandemic were also discussed.
Necessary examinations, medications and therapies for 58.2 percent of oncology patients in Croatia were made fully available to 58.2 percent of people who required them, were mostly available for 32.2 percent of such individuals, and were sadly unavailable for 9.1 percent of people.
The importance of prevention, but also adequate treatment of cancer, was emphasised by Dr. Renata Sabljar Dracevac in a panel discussion where she announced the relaunch of the initiative MPs against cancer.
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