ZAGREB, 19 April 2022 - Trade unions of emergency medical services workers on Tuesday held a working meting with Health Minister Vili Beroš on their demand to adopt a single law on emergency medical aid which will stipulate an accelerated retirement plan for paramedics.

The unionists expressed satisfaction with the meeting and said that they would present their proposal for an emergency medical aid bill in two weeks' time.

Unionist Danijel Šota said that a new meeting would be convened in two weeks' time to discuss the proposed drafts for this legislation that will regulate a reduced working life for EMS workers, the expansion of teams of emergency medical services, and paramedic helicopter services.

Five days ago, a few hundred protesters requested a meeting in the government on the reintroduction of an accelerated retirement plan, which was abolished during Andrija Hebrang's ministerial term of office.

They insist on a single law, following the example of relevant legislation for the police and firefighting services.

ZAGREB, 4 Mar (2022) - Health Minister Vili Beroš said on Friday that sufficient quantities of iodine tablets were being procured but that they would only be distributed in case of need, and he again called on citizens not to take them on their own initiative in fear of radiation because they have dangerous side effects.

"They are high doses of iodine which have a number of dangerous side effects - ranging from allergic rashes, gastrointestinal disorders, salivary gland infections, to thyroid failure," Beroš warned in a statement to the press, commenting on the increased interest in iodine tablets following the fire in Ukraine's largest nuclear power plant.

The Ministry of Health, said Beroš, has been in talks for days with manufacturers on the procurement of sufficient quantities of iodine tablets, and domestic galenic laboratories can also produce significant quantities. Iodine tablets will be handed out if necessary, but there will not be any preventive distribution because it has been estimated that some people would take them on their own initiative. One dose with two tablets costs about HRK 8, and the shelf life is five years so stocks are regularly renewed.

Their protection lasts for a maximum of 24 hours, Beroš pointed out, adding that they have to be taken just a few hours following the incident and that they only protect from radioactive iodine and not from other radioactive isotopes.

To use iodine, he said, it is necessary to have information on the amount and type of radiation, as well as meteorological data, and the services for protection against radioactive and nuclear radiation monitor those parameters on a daily basis.

Only in accordance with these data will the distribution of iodine be organised, through civil protection services, the minister said after visiting the motel Plitvice, a reception centre for refugees from Ukraine.

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ZAGREB, 29 Oct 2021 - Health Minister Vili Beroš said on Friday a decision was made under which family doctors would contact their patients over 65 in the next fortnight about getting vaccinated because 31.3% of people in that age group have not been vaccinated against COVID.

The most vulnerable persons, those over 65, are the priority in protection from COVID, he said at a press conference of the national COVID-19 crisis management team, adding that 40% of those over 80 have not been vaccinated either.

If doctors fail to contact their patients over 65 in the next fortnight, they should visit them at home, or have a district nurse do so, in the next 30 days, and then report to the ministry about what they have achieved. Those infirm should be vaccinated at home.

Beroš appealed to the elderly to get vaccinated. "Vaccination saves lives and it is our obligation to enable it."

He said 97 of the 177 persons over 65 who died of COVID this past week had not been vaccinated.

However, he said, interest in vaccination is growing and almost 6,000 of the 13,292 vaccinated yesterday received their first shot, the highest number since late July. Week on week it was an increase of 34.5%, and of 51.8% when compared with two weeks ago.

Croatian Institute of Public Health director Krunoslav Capak said there were 48.8% more new cases today than a week ago.

In the past 24 hours, 26 of the 32 COVID patients who ended up on ventilators and 20 of the 26 who died were not vaccinated.

The head of Zagreb's infectious diseases hospital, Alemka Markotić, told women who planned to get pregnant to get vaccinated or to do so after giving birth.

COVID certificates can't replace vaccination

Asked why COVID certificates were not required more widely, the head of the crisis management team, Interior Minister Davor Božinović, said the certificates offered a certain security but could not be a replacement for vaccination, adding that only vaccination could result in the pandemic abating.

"We are trying to do our best to have people vaccinated. We are thinking more and more about not limiting COVID certificates only to those vaccinated. We will also look at when they were vaccinated."

No one is considering another lockdown, but citizens must understand that this is a situation we will not get rid off anytime soon, Božinović said.

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ZAGREB, 15 Oct 2021 - The Croatian Medical Chamber (HLK) and Croatian Medical Association (HLZ) on Friday condemned the anti-vaxxer protest outside Health Minister Vili Beroš's home.

About a dozen citizens gathered outside Beroš's home on Thursday evening after a Religious Instruction teacher from Križevci called on them to do so on his Facebook profile.

In the post entitled "House visit to COVID response team", Ivan Pokupac wrote that they would come unannounced in front of the home of one member of the national response team every day and stand around for 15 minutes to let them, their families and neighbours know of the "terror they are imposing on citizens."

The two medical associations said that such threatening behaviour of individuals directed against the family of any citizen, and in this case of an official, is an essentially unacceptable act that could put these families in jeopardy.

In any democratic society, there is no room for protests and demonstrations in front of an individual's home and they directly threaten the safety of family members.

Calls for violence and hate speech on social networks are a criminal act, and unfortunately, this unacceptable protest was preceded precisely by such comments on social networks, HLK and HLZ warned.

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ZAGREB, 17 Sept 2021 - Health Minister Vili Beroš on Friday visited the site of a future Institute of Immunology factory in Brezje near Sveta Nedelja, west of Zagreb, where the production of snake antivenom would be relaunched, to be followed by the production of plasma-derived products and child and other vaccines.

Institute of Immunology director Vedran Čardžić said that the construction of the factory, a project worth about HRK 100 million, should start at the end of 2022 or early 2023.

The factory's main product would be vaccines but there are plans to launch the production of antivenom for the duration of preparations for construction work and regulation of the related legal matters.

"We will launch the production of antivenom during preparations for the construction of the new factory. That unit will be part of the new factory which will focus on vaccines against children's diseases (measles). Those vaccines used to be produced by the Institute of Immunology and the state owns the master seeds which international experts say are the best because they give the best vaccination results owing to their properties," said Čardžić.

This is expected to be followed by the launch of production of plasma-derived products and potential adoption of technologies for the production of newer virus vaccines in cooperation with partners, which is being negotiated, he said.

Minister Beroš said that this spring Croatia was faced with a shortage of antivenom, and even though the problem was quickly solved, he noted that as a tourist destination, Croatia should be able to rely on its own antivenom production.

He noted that antivenom production was expected to start before the next tourist season, adding that current employees of the Institute of Immunology would make up the core of the research staff at the new factory.

Čardžić also pointed to the need to attract new experts, noting that he would contact universities to inquire about successful students nearing graduation who would be interested in working at the Institute of Immunology.

Sveta Nedelja Mayor Dario Zurovec expressed hope the project would be a sustainable model of public-private partnership, announcing support by local authorities.

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April 25, 2021 - The parliamentary GLAS party said on Sunday that Health Minister Vili Beroš should step down due to the scandal with the cijepise.hr platform for registration for COVID-19 vaccination but warned that problems in the health system would not be solved with his departure alone.

"Minister Beroš, who has shamelessly awarded jobs worth millions of kuna to his friends amidst the horror in the health system he has caused, and who tells us that 'services say that everything is all right', refuses to assume any responsibility for the chaos caused by his vaccination platform," the party said in a press release.

As for the minister's statement that it was not true that the platform was not functioning but that rather it was not working as one would want, GLAS says that only Beroš knows the exact difference.

"People who registered for vaccination but whose registration was deleted by the platform, people above 65 and chronic patients who are still waiting for an invitation to vaccination, as well as general practitioners, are bearing the witness on a daily basis to how the platform functions or 'does not function the way we would want it to function'," GLAS said.

Calling for the minister's resignation, the party notes that one should not think that it would solve any of the problems in the health system or make it start functioning.

"Beroš is a minister because (PM Andrej) Plenković appointed him and responsibility lies primarily with the prime minister. As long as Plenković is Prime Minister and the HDZ is in power, we will keep sinking deeper and deeper."

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ZAGREB, 19 April, 2021 - The Social Democratic Party plans to talk with other opposition parties this week about a no-confidence vote in Health Minister Vili Beroš due to the many problems and omissions in his department, with SDP leader Peđa Grbin saying on Monday it was his "obligation to react to such obscenities."

Speaking to Hina, he said that if for no other reason, Beroš should be given a vote of no confidence because recently hospitals remained without drugs.

Grbin said "the debt in healthcare has reached unbelievable levels" and mentioned "the disorder" with the online platform for COVID-19 vaccination, adding also that Beroš "claims he has prepared the health reform and given it to (PM Andrej) Plenković, Plenković says that isn't true, which means that one of them is lying."

Grbin is not discouraged by the estimate that the ruling majority will most likely reject the no-confidence vote, saying that "our obligation to the people who gave us their trust is to react to such obscenities."

Minister responsible for lack of reforms

Homeland Movement whip Stephen Bartulica said his party had been critical of Beroš's performance for a long time.

"We'll see in consultations with other opposition parties if we'll ask for a no-confidence vote in Beroš, but I think we have a number of reasons for putting that item on the agenda."

We are for a debate on the situation in healthcare and the minister's responsibility, and we think parliament will respond well to that question, he said.

Rada Borić of the green-left bloc said the minister's responsibility should be discussed because of the complete failure to embark on a radical health reform.

Healthcare does not need surface but systematic reforms, as does social welfare, because all we have seen so far has been shifting the blame, she added.

"Problems in healthcare are not from yesterday, but in decent democratic countries, when one sees that the system has failed and that there have been suspect activities, it is the minister's responsibility to resign," Borić said.

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ZAGREB, 19 April, 2021 - The opposition MOST party on Monday called for an urgent reform of the health system, saying that Health Minister Vili Beroš was not the only one to blame for the bad situation in that sector and that the entire government and PM Andrej Plenković were also responsible.

"Recent statements by Finance Minister Zdravko Marić in the parliament are a result of an order to find the scapegoat for the situation in the health system, and that is Health Minister Vili Beroš, who a few months ago was a superhero, a result of the government's PR strategy," MOST MP and Zagreb mayoral candidate Zvonimir Troskot told a news conference.

He recalled Beroš's having said that a draft health reform was waiting on the government's table but that it was evident that there was no political courage or will to implement it.

By saying so, Beroš has revealed the real culprit for the lack of any necessary reforms. All Plenković is interested in is his position, Troskot said, calling on Beroš and Plenković to put the draft health reform to public consultation, adding that MOST would support it if it proved to be to the benefit of citizens, "even at the cost of a drop in party ratings."

As for a possible vote on Beroš's replacement, he said that Bridge would vote for it but that Beroš was not the only one to blame, reiterating that the Andrej Plenković government lacked the courage for any vital reform, including the health reform.

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ZAGREB, 4 January, 2021 - Health Minister Vili Beros said on Monday that an additional 17,550 doses of COVID-19 vaccines had been delivered earlier in the day, and that 12,285 people had been vaccinated since Croatia started administering the vaccines against this infectious disease.

Beros said that a lower number of tests performed in the last few days could be ascribed to the fact that this was the period of Christmas and New Year holidays.

The minister expects more tests to be conducted as of mid-January.

As of the current stringent anti-COVID measures that are in place until 10 January, the minister said that their prolongation would depend on the epidemiological situation.

Croatia has registered 361 new coronavirus cases and 54 infection-related deaths in the last 24 hours, the national coronavirus response team said on Monday.

The number of active cases stands at 5,899 and 2,453 people are receiving hospital treatment, including 196 on ventilators.

With the 54 latest fatalities, the death toll has climbed to 4,126.

Since February 25, when the first case of infection was confirmed in the country, 213,319 people have been infected with the novel virus. A total of 203,294 have recovered, of whom 852 in the last 24 hours. Currently 16,865 people are in self-isolation.

A total of 1,035,076 people have been tested for coronavirus, including 2,985 in the last 24 hours.

December 31, 2020 – Health Minister Vili Beroš commented on the record blood donations collected in Petrova Hospital in Zagreb yesterday and coronavirus vaccine doses sent to the quake-affected area.

As N1 reports, in front of the Dubrava Hospital, where some COVID positive patients arrived from the earthquake-affected area, Health Minister Vili Beroš commented on patients' situation after the earthquake.

Record blood doses after 1995

"This morning, I received information from the Croatian Institute for Transfusion Medicine that yesterday, a record number of blood doses was collected in Zagreb's Petrova Hospital, over 750 doses. The last time we had a similar turnout was August 5, 1995, the beginning of the Storm war operation. This shows the consciousness of the Croatian people," said Beroš.

"From a health point of view, this is a challenge. We want to provide health care to everyone. Given that most health facilities have been severely damaged, I believe we will respond adequately. As much as 90 percent of the Sisak hospital is out of order, so we have to adjust the health system and provide health care to the entire surrounding area," said Beroš.

He pointed out that many health centers are out of order. He also revealed that the Health Ministry sends about a thousand doses of vaccine to the affected area.

'Virus is still here'

"On Saturday, a team of epidemiologists from the Croatian Institute for Public Health will vaccinate all people who are in collective accommodation, emergency workers, and emergency services who are in the area and who will be there for three weeks, including all members of civil protection. Plans exist to adapt to the situation. Epidemiologists will estimate the situation and see how many vaccines are still needed. We are sending more than 1000 doses," said Beroš.

The Minister pointed out that there are enough reserves of protective equipment. He also said that the problem of drug delivery would be solved. Rapid antigen tests are being conducted among nursing home users in the area to find out if there are infections in collective accommodation.

"After the earthquake, Minister Aladrović contacted me. They enabled the accommodation for nursing home users from Petrinja in the Popovača Hospital and other places. There are positive cases among the users, so we are looking for accommodation for them with the county authorities. We still have to stick to measures, masks, distances, disinfection. The virus is still there. These circumstances favor its spread," said Beroš.

The Minister stressed that all health professionals with COVID patients must receive the promised money for the reward.

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