Shall we start washing our heads for a change?

By Edin Urjan Kukavica

A member of the Crisis Staff of the Federation of BiH and head of the Clinic for Infectious Diseases of the University Clinical Center Sarajevo says that "epidemiologists and experts are following WHO recommendations when it comes to coronavirus testing" by "testing those with symptoms." People without symptoms are not tested because the result could be false negative, and then such a person thinks they can behave normally, while in the meantime they can get infected and become a carrier.

Regarding this stance and practice – which goes against common sense and World Health Organization guidelines – the Medical Chamber of FBiH has (finally) given its opinion, stating that "the logic of not testing exceeds the limits of reason." Let us recall, with the previous "rational" testing practice in the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, about 480 people were tested, and 173 were found to be ill.

The Federal Government, by the Decision adopted today, has appointed a new Crisis Staff of the Federation of BiH because the previous one was too large and had not met the needs of the citizens so far, i.e., it had not responded to tasks such as the procurement of medical equipment. We do not know who the members of the Staff were in the previous convocation, but the "new" one is headed again by the Deputy Prime Minister of FBiH and Federal Minister of Finance, the director of the Federal Civil Protection Administration is the Chief of Staff, and the members are the director of the Federal Administration for Inspection Affairs, the deputy director of the Federal Police Administration, the director of the Institute for Public Health, the director of the Federal Commodity Reserves Directorate, the secretary of the Red Cross FBiH, and two deputy directors of the Federal Civil Protection Administration.

Never mind that the Crisis Staff formed due to the pandemic does not even include the mysterious Federal Minister of Health, but the Staff also lacks representatives, let alone commanders of cantonal crisis staffs, even though a layman's understanding of subordination would suggest so (not to mention the complexity of FBiH's functioning, where it is impossible to order anything from the federal level to any lower level of government). However, a bigger problem is that it has since been revealed that the Crisis Staff was "abruptly dismissed because the Deputy Prime Minister, who is also the Minister of Finance of the Federation of BiH and a cadre of HDZ BiH, blocked the already agreed procurement of 150,000 tests.

The tests were supposed to arrive from South Korea as early as Friday, however, the contract that had to be signed on Wednesday was postponed with the explanation that "the Crisis Staff could not agree, so we are waiting for the Government session." It turned out that the supplier was under pressure, with questions about quantities that could be delivered to Croatia and SBK Mostar, which is in a difficult situation?!

In other words, allow me to read it in a language everyone understands: it is not only that its president extorted approval for concluding a contract with a "strategic partner" for the dead Aluminij, behind whom, it turns out, he personally stands, but his minister also conditioned (blackmailed) the delivery of tests for the entire FBiH with quantities for Croatia and Herceg Bosna.

Besides the question of whether the commander was dismissed or reappointed, because it is not clear at all from the contradictory news, a more serious question arises: what about the mass murderers who (until recently) sat in, and commanded, the Crisis Staff of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina? Will anyone have the guts, strength, or political will to hold accountable for the criminal offense against health and the spread of infection all those who caused the appearance of several clusters in the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina (from Konjic, through Mostar to...) from where the infection and death spread to most of the country, the commander of the Crisis Staff under the same article with the addition of the criminal offense of "obstructing a public official in the performance of their duties"? Will the proponents of incomprehensible, negligent, and "rational" testing be held accountable, and if so, when and to whom – or will they – it would not be surprising – be rewarded for the savings made by the public health system of FBiH and UKCS?

Will – and if so, until when – the national key, parity, and "equality of peoples," along with ignorance, audacity, insolence, and vanity – at least temporarily – cease to be decisive, crucial factors in general decision-making, at least until we (don't) survive this pandemic? Isn't it really time to move from washing hands to "washing heads" and for someone, for the first time, to be held accountable for the complete – not amateurism – but negligence, in which the price is measured in human lives?

If we are at war – and we are at war – then some war laws should apply, for patriots, for traitors, for fifth columnists, for black marketeers, and for every kind of scum... Of course, it was somewhat easier in that war, the enemies were at least on the other side, not partners in power.