May 20, 2022 - In an effort to dig deeper into the situation of termination of pregnancy in Croatia, Health Minister Vili Beroš requested last week a list of Croatian doctors who refused to perform abortions owing to conscientious objection. However, according to Croatian media reports, the Ministry always had this list and knew the number.

Last week, Health Minister Vili Beroš asked hospital directors to list all healthcare workers who invoke conscientious objection and refuse to terminate a pregnancy to determine if hospital functioning is compromised, reports Telegram.hr. The move gives the impression that the minister wants to do something after being embroiled in the controversial Čavajda affair but, as Jutarnji list reported in its print edition, Beroš already knew that more than half of doctors in Croatia have a conscientious objection.

When Jutarnji found out that the Minister had asked hospitals to list their employed doctors who have a conscientious objection to abortion, the Ministry did not answer their question, and Beroš did not answer the question of MP Anka Mrak Taritaš, who asked on April 20 how many doctors refused to assist women in the legal termination of pregnancy, which is something guaranteed by law.

Namely, out of a total of 359 hospital gynecologists in Croatia, 164 gynecologists agree to perform abortions/terminations of pregnancy for women until the tenth week of gestation, which is legally regulated and legal, and 195 refuse to do so. Beroš admitted this to RTL on May 9, two days before asking the directors of the country's hospitals to list their doctors with conscientious objections to performing abortions.

''Conscience appeal and termination of pregnancy do not exclude each other''

Beroš then said that in that case "outpatient gynecologists are to be hired in the requested hospital or in the nearest healthcare institution in accordance with the law.''

When asked by Jutarnji whether it makes sense to ask hospitals (yet again) for a list of conscientious objectors when they already know how many refuse to terminate pregnancies, and whether or not the plan is to do something so that women can exercise their legally guaranteed right, the Ministry sent them the same answer as they did to RTL more than ten days ago.

They only added that "they periodically collect data with the aim of actively managing the processes for the benefit of patients and that the right to abortion and to conscientious objection are not mutually exclusive and institutions are obliged to find conditions for exercising both rights." However, Mirela Čavajda could not exercise her legal right in Croatia, so she had to go to Slovenia for her abortion.

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ZAGREB, 3 Feb 2022 - Health Minister Vili Beroš said in the parliament on Thursday the battle against coronavirus could be won only with unity and a science-based approach, vaccination, and compliance with epidemiological rules.

Submitting a report on the effects of epidemiological measures taken to fight coronavirus between 1 September and the end of December 2021, the minister defended the introduction of the EU digital certificate, which he said had proven to be "a universal tool in the fight against the epidemic in all EU members", noting that ample research confirmed its efficacy.

As for figures related to the pandemic, since the start of the coronavirus pandemic, the Croatian Health Insurance Institute has paid close to five billion kuna from mandatory health insurance, and around HRK 122 million for special bonuses to health workers.

In the period from 1 September to the end of December 2021, 1.4 million vaccine doses were administered, putting the total number of vaccine doses used at 4.7 million. By the end of December 2021, 55.58% of the total population was vaccinated, or 66.33% of the adult population, with the vaccination rate being the highest in Zagreb.

Number of fatalities due to low vaccination rate, population age, risk factors

Responding to opposition criticism regarding the high COVID-19 mortality rate, Beroš said that Croatia had a low vaccination rate, an old population and that there were many risk factors, such as obesity, smoking and alcohol consumption.

Also, high mortality was reported also before the epidemic, and as regards lethality - the number of deaths in relation to the number of infections, is lower than in many other countries in the world and around the lethality rate in Europe, he said.

Beroš also noted that hospitals did not deal exclusively with COVID patients and that the latest information showed that hospitals provided for cancer patients without any problems and that no problems had been identified in the implementation of preventive cancer programmes either.

For all you need to know about coronavirus specific to Croatia, make sure to bookmark our dedicated section and select your preferred language if it isn't English.

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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