ZAGREB, 8 Nov, 2021 - The president of the Croatian Association for the Promotion of Patients' Rights, Jasna Karačić, said there was great resistance to vaccination and distrust of the profession in Croatia due to disinformation on COVID-19 that was spreading on social networks.

Disinformation is spreading on social networks much faster than scientific information is spreading. This is also present in other countries, but in Croatia it is pronounced the most in the entire EU, Karačić told Hina.

She said one should listen to experts, but the problem is also in the way the national COVID-19 crisis management team is communicating, since they do not send accurate messages to the public.

"First they made a mistake when they called on people to get vaccinated, and people thought the vaccine protected 100% so they could stop behaving responsibly," Karačić said.

The government obviously has no control over anti-vaxxers, nor its citizens, who were in a dilemma about vaccination, and gave up, for example, because they did not receive the necessary information even after they had submitted a request over the official website Cijepise.hr, she said.

There will be increase in chronic and oncological diseases again

The problems of other patients have escalated during the pandemic, they have limited access to health care because many hospitals are denying them regular health care due to COVID patients. In a situation like that, many patients had to go to private doctors, so the private health sector profited from the crisis, Karačić said.

"Other European countries ensured doctor consultations for their chronic patients, and they didn't only devote themselves to COVID patients. That is why last year's problems will happen again now -- there will be an increase in chronic and oncological diseases, so the number of deaths from other diseases, which could have been prevented, will double," Karačić said.

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ZAGREB, 19 Sept, 2021 - The Voice of Entrepreneurs and the Night Clubs and Bars Association say it is pointless that night clubs and bars are not allowed to stay open after midnight and that this decision by the national COVID-19 crisis management team is unjust, notably now that almost all of the EU has lifted restrictions on them.

Night clubs and bars have paid the highest price of the pandemic, the two associations said in a press release on Sunday.

The national team is not considering allowing night clubs to stay open without restrictions, provided that COVID rules are complied with, as though they are the only ones to blame for the insufficient vaccination rate in Croatia and rise in infections, the statement said.

The associations said that if night clubs were allowed to operate indoors without restrictions, with the use of COVID certificates, that might encourage young people to get vaccinated.

By ignoring the constitutional right to work, the activity of night clubs and the hundreds of night club owners and their families are being marginalised, the press release said.

Despite the government's job-retention aid and compensation for fixed costs, night club and bar owners cannot avoid closures and bankruptcies, it added.

Every individual must take responsibility for their health, the associations said, adding that by not allowing night clubs and bars to work in order to protect people who refused to get vaccinated, the national COVID team was bringing into question the purpose of vaccination.

They said they had not worked for 18 months and asked Prime Minister Andrej Plenković to try and live nine months without pay.

They told the national team to immediately open night clubs and bars, provided that COVID rules were complied with, or take responsibility for the ruin of the entertainment industry.

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