March 18, 2023 - Today's Zagreb protest has been organized by the Croatian Medical Chamber, the Croatian Medical Union, the Croatian Association of Hospital Doctors, the Coordination of Croatian Family Medicine and the Initiative of Young Doctors after a survey showed the great dissatisfaction of doctors in public health, and their readiness to go on strike.

As 24Sata writes, Croatian doctors are dissatisfied because the Ministry of Health has not met their demands and is not solving the accumulated problems in the system.

Zagreb protest should be kicking off at Dr. Franjo Tuđman Square at 10:45 a.m. with a march along Ilica to Ban Jelačić Square, then St. Mark's Square. The planned arrival at St. Mark's Square is at 11:30 a.m., where the main part of the protest will begin at 12:05 p.m.

The organizers announced the largest protest of medical staff so far, expecting a large turnout from all parts of the country.

"The protest is not directed against anyone, it is a protest for better conditions for doctors, for a better health system and ultimately for patients. We invite the officials of the political parties not to come to Mark's Square tomorrow so that the protest is not politicized", said the president of the Croatian Medical Chamber Krešimir Luetić.

The protesters are asking the Prime Minister and the Government to urgently equalize the coefficients of the complexity of the jobs of specialists with narrow specialists, doctors in primary health care with hospital doctors, as well as to increase the coefficients for specialists by at least 10 percent.

They are also asking for the adoption of a law on the labor-legal status of doctors by the end of the spring session of the Parliament, harmonization of the work of doctors at all levels of health care with time-staff norms, and the abolition of "employee" contracts for doctor specializations.

They state that every third young doctor leaves the country, more than 50 municipalities have no primary care doctors, and the health system currently lacks 2,000 doctors and 4,000 nurses. Every third doctor in the system is over 50 years old, and patients have to wait up to 600 days for individual examinations.

Dissatisfied doctors emphasize overload and poor working conditions, inefficient management in the system, devastation of primary health care, non-existent health care reform and continuous ignoring of their requests.

They believe that their requests have exceeded the level of the relevant ministry, so they will send them directly to Prime Minister Andrej Plenković and the Government. The protest is taking place only a day after the key health laws were passed in the Parliament, which, according to the announcements of Minister Vili Beroš, will initiate a structural reform of the system.

In recent days, Beroš has repeated several times that the protest is legitimate, but it is not the way to solve the problem.

He said that doctors are protesting for their material rights even though, in the opinion of many citizens, they "live very well", that their incomes have increased by 43 percent since 2016, and more than 2,000 doctors have a higher salary than the prime minister.

He added that he does not deny that there are problems in the system, but, he says, they should be discussed.

"Good will is needed for an agreement, not a conversation with hidden intents, it is necessary to offer sustainable solutions", he said, warning of a sincere lack of desire and will to resolve things through negotiations and discussion.

Beroš was previously supported by the Croatian Medical Association, the Croatian Association of Family Physicians and the Association of Healthcare Employers (UPUZ). The director of UPUZ, Dražen Jurković, called the protest a "putschist method", and specifically questioned the appropriateness of the participation of certain associations that have public powers, alluding to the Medical Chamber.

For more, make sure to check out our dedicated News section.

March the 3rd, 2023 - This week in Croatian politics, we've had government failings and alleged GDPR violations, the plight faced by doctors and other healthcare professionals being ignored by the powers that be, and Plenkovic was put to the competency test.

The government's proposed "white list" of stores fails spectacularly, here's how

The state has proven once again that it likes to interfere in things it doesn't actually remotely understand, according to Branimir Perkovic. When it comes to thinks in which it should not be involved at all, it ultimately does badly. The most recent blunder of all is the famous so-called "white list" of stores and others operating within the trade sector, hastily drawn up to protect the government from having to deal too much with politically unpleasant price comparisons of stores in Croatia and other Eurozone countries.

This "application" (which it actually isn't) had been being announced for weeks by many at the helm of Croatian politics, primarily by Minister Davor Filipovic. On the eve of its presentation by Filipovic's ministry, a media conference was held where the project, which they persistently and wrongly referred to as an app, was presented.

"We think that this way of informing the public is very good and that white lists will help people make decisions when purchasing things and will be able to give confidence to retail chains that have decided to be transparent," Filipovic said the day before the price movement ''app'' was released to the public. In the weeks leading up to the site's launch, he repeatedly spoke about this, praising the project and emphasising its importance.

After no more than a few days, according to Filipovic's announcements, it became clear that practically nobody anywhere was making any purchase decisions based on the government app that isn't an app. For starters, although it's persistently presented as an "app", it's actually just a regular website. Someone in the Ministry of Economy should know that the apps are intended for use via mobile phones and tablets, and currently the so-called white list of Croatian traders exists only as a website.

Nobody uses the government website, it allegedly violates the law and it's impractical

The real problem is that it isn't useful at all, as evidenced by the low to no use of it. The ministry boasted that it was visited a total of 34,789 times from February the 17th to March the 2nd, but most of these visits (a massive 60 percent of them) were made in the first two days alone.

After the first seven days of the site being live, the daily number of visits dropped to less than 1000, and in the past seven days it is less than 700. It's obvious that the users have assessed that it isn't a useful tool, and most of don't return after visiting once. There was such a rush to create the "app" that the Electronic Communications Act and the General Data Protection Regulation, i.e. GDPR, were entirely forgotten. The state has therefore managed to do something new that allegedly violates the laws of that same state. Not only that, but the state would severely punish both private companies and individuals for the same omission.

In this way, the Personal Data Protection Agency (AZOP) will only inform the competent institutions, in this case the Ministry of Economy, that they should comply with the GDPR as soon as possible. Because as things currently stand, according to Croatian and European Union law, this app, site, or whatever it is, violates the privacy of its users.

"The analysis of the website found that the site does not have a cookie banner for consent to the processing of personal data, and stores two cookies on the equipment of the user/visitor of the site, which requires the prior consent of the user,'' replied the Agency for personal data protection upon receiving Telegram's inquiry about the GDPR issue.

It's hard to believe that all of the listed prices are the same in all branches of certain stores across the whole country

The truth of the data on it is also not being checked by anyone. Maybe the prices in the three retail chains (Konzum plus, KTC and Tommy) really are as they are stated on it, although it's quite hard to believe that the same price is valid for so many products throughout Croatia. Every regular store visitor has noticed that the price of a certain product is often not the same even in the same city/municipality in different stores of the same retail chain.

"That site was created only so that politicians would give the impression that they're doing something"

"The goal is to influence possible price increases and the trend of inflation, because when people see who is correct, they will know how to appreciate it," said Minister Filipovic when launching the "app". But the people ignored his little project. Money was spent, no effect was had.

"I don't see how a movement-price page can be relevant for anyone on any topic," IT expert and analyst Marko Rakar commented for Index. "That page was created only so that politicians would give the impression that they're doing something," he concluded.

An app that isn't app, that no one uses, that doesn't protect the privacy of its users and the accuracy of which is questionable. For "only" 26,000 euros. It could have been worse. In fact, there were worse projects, if we only take a trip back in time to the infamous CRO card saga, a more or less forgotten failure of the Tourism Ministry.

A vote of confidence (or no confidence, as the case could have been) in PM Andrej Plenkovic took place recently

The world of Croatian politics is a turbulent one, and Plenkovic is usually somewhere in the limelight. The vote of confidence in Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic confirmed recently that the majority of MPs remain behind him, and it also revealed that as many as seventeen MPs from the opposition that rather loudly initiated the proceedings in the first place didn't bother to show up for the vote at all.

Who among the opposition didn't even bother to come cast a vote?

Davor Bernardic (Social Democrats)
Erik Fabijanic (Social Democrats)
Katica Glamuzina (Social Democrats)
Rajko Ostojic (Social Democrats)
Sanja Udovic (Social Democrats)
Emil Daus (IDS)
Marin Lerotic (IDS)
Sinisa Hajdas Doncic (SDP)
Ante Kujundzic (Most/Bridge)
Zeljko Lenart (HSS)
Natalija Martincevic (Reformisti/Reformists)
Marijana Puljak (Centar/Centre)
Zeljko Sacic (Hrvatski suverenisti/Croatian sovereignists)
Dario Zurovec (Focus)
Vinko Grcic (Independent)
Stjepan Kovac (Independent)
Miroslav Skoro (Za pravednu hrvatsku/For a just Croatia)

Who abstained?

Milan Vrkljan (Za pravednu hrvatsku/For a just Croatia)

There were 74 opposition MPs in the parliament, and 56 of them raised their hands as a vote of no confidence in Plenkovic and his leadership as Prime Minister.

"Those who didn't even bother to turn up and aren't sick or have no other valid reason not to come will have to explain this within their own parties," said Pedja Grbin (SDP). "The ruling majority is still at 77, and that says we still have those who don't see, don't want to see, pretend not to see, or are completely aware of everything and don't really care what's happening to this country at all," he asserted.

Nikola Grmoja (Bridge/Most): We didn't even think it was possible to gather enough hands anyway

Regarding the fact that the opposition didn't come out in full force, Nikola Grmoja from Most pointed out that they didn't even think it was possible to gather enough hands to topple the prime minister anyway.

"A vote of no confidence is an instrument used by the opposition to warn people about the state of society, about all the scandals, the fact that Plenkovic's associates are trading in influence and that he himself is mentioned as the one in whose office Gabriela Zalac's controversial software was presented... So the opposition did everything it could could, we can't do more than this. If we could, then we would be the government," Grmoja pointed out, adding that this is the largest number of votes the opposition has collected in a vote for an initiative.

Bencic: They voted with their absenteeism

When asked what about those who didn't bother to come to vote, Sandra Bencic (We Can!/Mozemo!) said that not coming is justified for some who have a medical reason for not being present or were prevented by legitimate obligations. But those who don't have it, she added, voted by not attending anyway.

Bencic clarified to a journalist's question that Milan Vrkljan will no longer be invited to opposition meetings and agreements because he cannot participate as a member of the majority in opposition agreements.

The European Union provided the funds to help Croatia in its post-earthquake mess one year ago, but the government is only now ordering prefab housing for those affected by December 2020's Petrinja earthquake

The Ministry of Spatial Development, Construction and State Property has published the Draft Procurement Documentation in EOJN - Prior consultation with interested economic entities for the subject of procurement: The procurement of mobile and modular prefabricated/dismantled houses, including technical specifications.

What kind of housing has been ordered?

The plan is to acquire 500 wooden houses with a size of 25 m2 for one to two people and the same housing spanning 35 m2 for two to four people. The total estimated value of the procurement is 14 million euros (without VAT), and the open high-value public procurement procedure is divided into six groups that refer to the area of Sisak-Moslavina County.

As prescribed, the housing unit must have one space that serves as a kitchen and living room, then a bathroom and one or two bedrooms. It will be equipped with basic equipment - sanitary facilities, kitchen elements, basic appliances, such as a stove and refrigerator, a dining table, beds, and so on.

"Aside from the primary use for the purpose of temporarily taking care of the users whose houses were damaged during the Petrinja earthquake, the houses in question are planned to be moved and used for other purposes later. Accordingly, they must be made in such a way that they can be quickly dismantled and transported to another location without damage,'' reads the competent ministry's documentation preceding the public tender.

EU money has been available for this for more than a year now

Minister Branko Bacic also spoke about the initiation of the preliminary consultation procedure for the procurement of the aforementioned wooden mobile homes for the temporary accommodation of users at a recent government session. He invited Croatian manufacturers and builders of wooden prefabricated houses to participate in this consultation and assist in the procurement of such wooden houses.

The ministry also plans to finance the wooden houses with money from the European Union Solidarity Fund. The problem with the whole story is that this money has been available to Croatia for more than a year now, i.e. since December the 30th, 2021. Things move painfully slowly in Croatian politics, and it should be noted that volunteers had been erecting similar wooden houses in Banovina for several months after the earthquake, and the government is only now starting this process, years after the terrible Petrinja earthquake struck Central Croatia.

A temporary solution once again, and at the last minute before the chance to use EU money expires - again

Instead of wooden houses, which typically make for much more comfortable accommodation, many victims of the Petrinja earthquake are still living in small, cramped tin containers. The government is only now planning the acquisition of more comfortable accommodation, but again it's temporary. There isn't much talk about proper, permanent replacement houses yet.

In addition, the government found itself in a race against time, because the opportunity to spend European Union money from the Solidarity Fund expires in just four months, which means that the work must be completed by the end of June. If nothing else, the government at least, after more than two years, finally realised that tin containers and container settlements are an ugly picture that says everything about the non-existent state of the reconstruction ''process''.

The plight of doctors is still being ignored by the government, and the Croatian Medical Chamber is growing frustrated

The Croatian Medical Chamber (HLK) recently announced that a government decision on amendments to the Regulation on job titles and job complexity coefficients in public services is a clear message of them simply continuing to ignore requests from doctors and other healthcare professionals.

The aforementioned government decision on amendments to the Regulation on job titles and job complexity coefficients in public services, which again doesn't contain changes to the coefficients for the three groups of doctors that were agreed with the Ministry of Health last year in August, is a clear message of continuing to ignore doctors' requests, it is stated in the Chamber's press release.

HLK assesses that it is obvious that, for the time being, there's absolutely no political will to meet the demands of grossly underpaid and overworked doctors, and thus neither to make key decisions for the sustainability of the public health system and the remaining doctors in Croatia. The Chamber referred to the meeting back in August last year at the Ministry of Health, when doctors were promised concrete deadlines for correcting these coefficients.

Croatian doctors are demanding the urgent regulation of the salary coefficient system

The Croatian Chamber of Physicians, the Croatian Physicians' Union, the Coordination of Croatian Family Medicine and the Croatian Association of Hospital Physicians demanded urgent regulation of the existing system of salary coefficients for certain categories of physicians.

Medical associations demanded that the government equalise the coefficients of focused specialists with narrow specialists who specialised according to earlier rules, equalise the coefficients of doctors working in primary healthcare with doctors working in hospitals, and to raise the coefficients of residents as well.

Back in August of last year, HLK reported that it had agreed with the Ministry of Health that the deadline for correcting coefficients for doctors was to be the end of 2022, i.e. that these costs must be planned in the budget proposal for 2023. That deadline expired more than two months ago.

For more on Croatian politics, make sure to check out our dedicated section. For a weekly overview, keep an eye out for our Week in Croatian Politics articles which are published every Friday.

ZAGREB, 23 July 2022 - The Croatian Medical Chamber (HLK) on Friday said that Prime Minister Andrej Plenković's comment on doctors being among the better-paid public employees was inappropriate and it countered with the explanation that those higher salaries were the result of their working additional hours.

Asked about reports that a thousand doctors in Croatia had handed in their resignations, Prime Minister Plenković said earlier on Friday that he did not know about it, adding that doctors were among the better-paid public employees in Croatia.

"The only ones that perhaps have a higher salary are air traffic controllers, who are complaining about HRK 50,000. A stressful job. Come on," he said. The Prime Minister underscored that the government had increased salaries in health care in general, and that he didn't know when someone would be satisfied.

I think everyone needs to realise what kind of global crisis we are in, and understand that this is a time when we have to return to our joint contribution to solidarity, Plenković said.

However, the Croatian Medical Chamber accuses Plenković of having intentionally kept silent about the fact that the examples of high salaries of some doctors, revealed in media, were actually the result of of their overtime work with even 150 or 200 extra hours a month.

The Croatian Medical Chamber explains that so many hours worked in excess by doctors in hospitals were the result of shortage of specialist doctors and some of those employed professionals employed work double time to keep the hospital system functioning and make it available to patients.

The press release signed by the medical chamber's president, Krešimir Luetić blames Prime Minister Plenković and Health Minister Vili Beroš of poor management of the hospital system, "irrational public procurement in the healthcare system" and long waiting lists.

ZAGREB, 11 May 2022 - The Croatian Medical Chamber (HLK) said on Wednesday the right to conscientious objection was guaranteed by international and national legal documents and regulations, rejecting unsubstantiated attacks on that medical institute and opposing its abolishment.

The HLK expressed regret and sympathy for the difficult situation Mirela Čavajda and her family have found themselves in, but noted that it did not consider the case to be about conscientious objection.

Čavajda is a 39-year-old who has requested a pregnancy termination because the fetus has been diagnosed with massive brain cancer six months into her pregnancy. She recently told the Index web portal that all hospitals in Zagreb she contacted had refused to do a termination of pregnancy despite the fact that doctors told her that the tumour was so big the child most likely would not live long, and even if it did, it would never have a normal life.

Her complaint against the hospitals' decision is to be discussed by a second-instance commission at the KBC Zagreb Hospital, whose expert commission, formed last week at the request of Health Minister Vili Beroš, was of the view that the child has a chance to live and that neurosurgical treatment is possible if the delivery goes well.

The EU Charter of Fundamental Rights, legally binding on all members, guarantees every individual the right to conscientious objection, in line with national legislation, the HLK said, recalling that that right is also guaranteed by the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the European Convention on Human Rights, and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.

In Croatian legislation, the right to freedom of conscience is regulated by the Constitution, while the right to conscientious objection for physicians is regulated by the Medical Profession Act and the Code of Medical Ethics, the HLK says, describing as unacceptable recent blanket criticisms of gynecologists in the media and public.

It expressed concern over Zagreb Mayor Tomislav Tomašević's statement that it was unacceptable that all medical staff at Sveti Duh Hospital (founded by the city of Zagreb) are conscientious objectors, with HLK president Krešimir Luetić claiming Tomašević was exerting pressure on doctors.

The HLK stresses that the right to conscientious objection was often depicted  in public as an obstacle to exercising the legal right to abortion.

According to HLK's data, the service of pregnancy termination is available on request in 28 medical institutions in Croatia.

For more, check out our politics and lifestyle sections.

ZAGREB, 30 April 2022 - In Croatia, 65% of its population is overweight, ranking second in Europe after Malta, a press conference in Opatija heard this week ahead of the 8th Croatian Obesity Convention.

The convention was held from 28 to 30 April in Opatija and was organised by the Croatian Medical Chamber's association for obesity.

About 300 experts discussed the problem of obesity, which is one of the biggest public healthcare problems, and they adopted new guidelines to deal with this problem.

The association's president and vice president, Davor Štimac and Sanja Klobučar Majanović, respectively, announced the convention.

Štimac said that over the past few years a somewhat better record was achieved by the female population in losing weight.

Croatian men continue to be the fattest in Europe. It is concerning to see that children are becoming fatter and fatter. We have projects in Croatia that monitor obesity among children in schools, and over the past 15 years that problem has been increasingly frequent among children, underscored Štimac.

He said that previously one in five school children had a problem with weight and today that is every third child.

We are battling against the COVID pandemic and obesity, which is a fatal combination, Klobučar Majanović said, adding and that a balanced diet and exercise are the path to a normal weight and that it is necessary to avoid weight-loss products on the black market.

ZAGREB, 17 March 2022 - The Croatian Medical Chamber (HLK) said on Thursday that it had launched a humanitarian campaign to raise funds to help the Ukrainian people and doctors.

The HLK is to donate HRK 300,000 as part of the campaign and it calls on its members to help raise funds, which will be used to buy medical products and equipment for Ukrainian doctors and people.

The HLK said that it strongly condemned the Russian aggression on Ukraine and the increasingly frequent attacks on civilian buildings, health institutions and medical workers.

The HLK drive will last until 1 April, and the money raised will be paid into a special fund for medical aid to Ukraine, established by the European Forum of Medical Associations (EFMA), Standing Committee of European Doctors (CPME) and World Medical Association (WMA).

The HLK said donations can be made via its bank account IBAN: HR7923400091511179558, poziv na broj 2022; opis uplate "Hrvatski liječnici za Ukrajinu".

For more, check out our lifestyle section.

ZAGREB, 28 Nov, 2021 - The head of the Croatian Medical Chamber (HLK) said on Sunday that he was surprised that participants in protests against COVID certificates included doctors, confirming the HLK had launched proceedings against doctors making claims not based on science at those protests, thus misleading the public.

"Certain steps have been taken against six doctors... sanctions range from a warning and a reprimand to the revocation of the licence," Krešimir Luetić said in an interview with the Sunday issue of the Novi List daily.

Asked if such doctors should have their licences revoked, Luetić said the HLK's Ethics Board was an independent body that would make its decision.

Doctors embittered by protests against COVID-19 certificate mandate

Asked about his view of the protests against epidemiological restrictions, vaccination and testing, Luetić said that he shared his fellow doctors' resentment about the protests.

He said that after the protest held in Zagreb last weekend, he was contacted by dozens of colleagues who were embittered as the event was in direct violation of epidemiological restrictions but also because of the messages that could be heard at the rally.

95% of doctors vaccinated

Asked about the fact that among the protesters there were also doctors and that not all protesters were uneducated people, Luetić said that he was shocked by the fact that any intellectual, particularly a doctor, would make comments that were not based on science, medical profession and statistics.

He noted, however, that around 95% of doctors had been vaccinated against coronavirus, thus showing their view of the pandemic and vaccination.

Speaking of vaccination, Luetić recalled that the HLK had already taken the position that vaccination should be mandatory in the health system.

As for the mandatory vaccination of the general population, which Austria has already opted for and some other European countries are considering, Luetić said that it would be a political decision.

"As a doctor and from the point of view of the medical sector, I think such a decision would definitely make the situation in the health system easier, and reduce the number of seriously ill people and fatalities," he said.

If you compare countries like Croatia, Belgium, Austria and the Netherlands, you see that they have roughly the same number of daily infections per million inhabitants, however, compared to Croatia, those three countries have three times fewer hospitalisations and up to five times fewer fatalities, Luetić stressed.

"That is a clear indicator of how important vaccination is, and as to whether our citizens understand that, I think the answer is both yes and no," he said.

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ZAGREB, November 15, 2020 - A delegation of the Croatian Medical Chamber (HLK) on Sunday lit candles at a memorial at the Vukovar National Memorial Hospital in recognition of the hard work and great sacrifice of Vukovar doctors during the aggression on Vukovar in 1991.

"Like all these years, the Croatian Medical Chamber pays tribute to Vukovar's sacrifice and to victims of the Homeland War all over Croatia and expresses its thanks to colleagues who worked at the Vukovar hospital for three months in 1991 in inhumane conditions, offering medical help to all those who needed it," HLK president Kresimir Luetic said.

He said that HLK members had come to the Vukovar hospital a few days before November 18 and not on that day due to the epidemiological situation as they wanted to send a message to everyone else to listen to epidemiologists and not to gather in large numbers in Vukovar on November 18.

Luetic said that the sacrifice of Vukovar in the Homeland War can also be honoured on other days and in other places. According to him, Vukovar should not become a new COVID-19 hotspot following November 18 if epidemiological measures are adhered to.

Head of Vukovar hospital, Vesna Bosanac, also does not expect Vukovar to become a new coronavirus hotspot after November 18.

It is important that everyone who comes to Vukovar really adheres to the measures, that they wear masks and listen to the COVID-19 response team, and that there are no gatherings, Bosanac said.

The HLK delegation also visited the Homeland War Victims Memorial Cemetery, where it laid a wreath and lit candles.

October the 26th, 2020 - The ongoing coronavirus pandemic is continuing to deal heavy blows, with the infection rate in Croatia rising to figures that were difficult to imagine back during the beginning back in spring. With capacities filling and medical staff being stretched thin, the Croatian Medical Chamber has called on retired medics to activate and get involved with helping to deal with the result of the spread of the new virus across the country.

As Poslovni Dnevnik writes on the 26th of October, 2020, due to the significant deterioration of the epidemiological situation related to the spread of COVID-19 here in Croatian, Minister of Health Vili Beros recently came out and asked the Croatian Medical Chamber to provide the Ministry of Health with data on retired doctors who are willing to re-engage in healthcare duties during the epidemic, each according to their own respective specialisations.

As has since been found out, in the first 24 hours of Beros having made this plea, 23 retired doctors responded to the call of the Croatian Medical Chamber, stating that they're ready to re-activate to try to help cope with the spread of the new coronavirus.

The Croatian Medical Chamber added that they expect much higher numbers of retired medics to respond at the beginning of the next working week.

To brieflty recall, the Minister of Health recently warned that the number of hospitalised coronavirus patients is growing rapidly, as are the number of health professionals who are positive for the virus and as such have been placed into self-isolation, which is why they can't currently participate in treating patients.

Minister Beros asked the Croatian Medical Chamber to submit to the Ministry of Health data on retired doctors who are willing to re-engage professionally, and interested doctors can contact the chamber should they desire to involve themselves amid the pandemic, the invitation reads.

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