The government on Thursday endorsed a draft national health care development strategy for the 2012-20 period, with Health Minister Rajko Ostojic saying health professionals, economists and lawyers as well as patients' associations, unions and the academic community were involved in drawing it up.
Ostojic said the strategy defined the advantages and weaknesses of Croatia's health care, adding that the main advantage was the medical staff and the main problem the system's fragmentation.
He said the adoption of the strategy was a condition for accessing European Union funds.
Prime Minister Zoran Milanovic said the quality of health care primarily depended on money.
Our system is wasteful and our task is to provide people with the best possible service with limited funds, he said, asking whether Croatia can finance so many health institutions which provide average or below average services and are not too far apart.
Education Minister Zeljko Jovanovic said health education, which was introduced in elementary schools this year, could help, through prevention, in the realisation of the national strategy. He said Croatian children were inactive and that one in five who smoked and drank alcohol did not brush their teeth.
Health education is a way to improve their health and shows how to cut through prevention the huge costs of treating obesity, diabetes or cardiovascular diseases, he said.
At the closed part of today's session, the government adopted reviews of bills and draft by-laws whereby Croatia is taking over the EU acquis communautaire for 2012.
