May 8, 2023 - Croatian epidemiologists might be proposing the Croatian government declare the end of pandemic. Pulmonologist Saša Srića commented on the decision of the World Health Organization, declaring the end of the global threat of the coronavirus pandemic.

In his guest appearance for N1's Dnevnik, as reported by Index, this is what he said: "Two days ago, the president of the World Health Organization declared the end of the global threat related to the pandemic, not the end of the pandemic. But it is certainly one step towards the end of the pandemic. As in the whole world, there has been a positive trend in Croatia for the last year".

"Croatia will also move towards declaring the end of the pandemic"

He says that we can expect that Croatia will also move towards declaring the end of the pandemic.

"Krunoslav Capak will propose to the government to declare the end of the epidemic in Croatia. For the health care system, this will mean a relief. When the end of the pandemic is declared, we must know that the virus is still with us, but it no longer poses a threat. The virus still exists, but we will learn to live with it," said the pulmonologist and added: "The virus weakened because it mutated and, fortunately, it mutated into a weaker form. We believe that the danger that the virus will develop into a more severe form has passed."

He also stated that today there are very few patients with severe pneumonia.

"We hope that in our lifetime and in the future, we will not be in this situation again. It wasn't easy, but we did a great job with our joint efforts, and the vaccine contributed a lot. That all led us to be able to move on. The most difficult was to watch completely healthy people have their health collapse," he concluded.

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March 25, 2021 - Both the Croatian Ministry of Tourism and Sports and Croatian tourist boards recognised the development of health tourism as a high priority for Croatia.

To discuss the development of health tourism in Croatia, a branch that is becoming one of the more important Croatian tourist products, Croatian Tourism and Sports minister Nikolina Brnjac met with Kvarner Tourist Board director Irena Peršić Živadinov, Kvarner Health Tourism cluster president Vladimir Možetič, and Zagreb Tourist Board director Martina Bienenfeld. As life expectancy and healthy lifestyle trends increase, the value of health tourism grows. The novel coronavirus only made that growth even more rapid.

"Over 80,000 tourists in 2020 visited Kvarner (well-known for Lošinj Island and its hospital for respiratory issues) for health services. Today, many people are recovering from the consequences of the novel coronavirus there," said the Kvarner Tourist Board director Živadinov.  

"We have all the advantages for further development of health tourism: a good reputation of health services, qualified staff, natural richness of thermal sources, good climate, and long tradition of tourism," said minister Brnjac. Her goal is to pull Croatia out of the perception of a country only good for the summer season.

Croatia offers health services in wellness and medicine tourism. Health tourism is most associated with the regions of Kvarner, Istria, northern Croatia, and Zagreb, but the goal is to include other regions that have the potential for health tourism and to achieve the goals of a strategy that needs to be accomplished by 2030.

Martina Bienenfeld said that the Zagreb Tourist Board is working on the City's recognition as the centre of medical excellence. She pointed out good traffic connections, a mixture of the Mediterranean and mid-Europe climate, as well as good prices of health services as great advantages of Croatia's capital to the international clientele.

The Health Care Bill and Services in Tourism Bill now allow hospitality and health tourism services in hospitals and medical centres. These legal changes are also significant in attracting further investments in the field.

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