Improving the conditions in preschool institutions are additional efforts in demographic politics

The Croatian government sent a healthcare bill to parliament on Wednesday, redefining the status and position of healthcare centres in order to improve primary healthcare services.

The bill, among other things, introduces the principle of subsidiarity and functional integration, improves the organisation of primary healthcare and introduces specialist services. It also regulates the area of health tourism and the provision of palliative care, strengthens preventive healthcare, recommends restructuring and rationalisation of hospitals, and introduces a national register of healthcare providers.

Presenting the bill, Health Minister Milan Kujundzic said that more than 5,000 suggestions, comments and criticisms had been analysed during the preparation of the bill, adding that he believed that it would satisfy all stakeholders.

The government also adopted amendments to the Medicines Act, regulating prices of prescription drugs. Under the proposal, the Agency for Medicines and Medical Products would determine maximum permitted prices of prescription drugs on the Croatian market and would regularly publish them on its website.

Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic expressed hope that the proposed amendments would help reduce the prices of medicines and consequently cut costs in the healthcare system.

The government on Wednesday sent a bill on the Homeland War Veterans and Members of their Families Fund to parliament, proposing that one half of the net profit from the Fund's investments be set aside for development, social and humanitarian measures to improve the status of veterans and members of their families.

Under the current law on the Fund, one third of the net profits goes to the Fund's members as dividends, one third is reinvested in the Fund, and one third goes for development, social and humanitarian measures.

"We wish to increase the Fund's profits and thereby improve the status of... veterans and members of their families," Veterans Minister Tomo Medved said.

The Demographic Revitalisation Council will convene next week and President Kolinda Grabar-Kitarovic will attend, Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic announced at a cabinet meeting on Wednesday.

"In talks with the president, I arranged a session of the Demographic Revitalisation Council for next week to which the president too will come," Plenkovic said.

The Council will discuss all that has been done and all that we want to do, and we will also consider the president's suggestions to the government, he added.

Two weeks ago, the president presented her proposal of population policy measures and sent them to the government.

Plenkovic announced the Demographic Revitalisation Council session after the government gave its consent to the Ministry of Demography, Family, Youth and Social Policy to sign HRK 50 million worth of contracts to co-finance projects to improve material conditions in kindergartens.

"It's another measure we are putting in the context of our demographic and pro-natality policy efforts," he said.

Text: Hina

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