Imposed Nikšić Government Shortchanged the Most Severely Ill by 156.5 Million KM This Year

By: Delvin Kovač

There is no end in sight to the agony of the most severely ill patients in the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina. The Solidarity Fund for their treatment still lacks 60 million KM by the end of this year, and it is increasingly likely that it will remain so. Therefore, mass protests are not ruled out, although they are on hold for now.

Let us recall, the imposed Government of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, led by Prime Minister Nermin Nikšić, transferred a meager 10 million KM to the Solidarity Fund through the revision of this year's budget, shifting the burden of securing the remaining 60 million KM to the cantons.

Representatives of the most severely ill have been touring the entire Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina these days, hoping to find the missing funds in negotiations with cantonal governments and public health institutes. Unfortunately, judging by the outcome of the talks so far, they have no reason for optimism.

Three days ago, on Monday, November 6, they were invited to a meeting with authorities in the Sarajevo Canton (KS). However, this did not happen because they were "stood up" by the Minister of Health of KS, Haris Vranić, who did not show up at the agreed time. The meeting was scheduled for 8:30 AM in Vranić's office.

- We arrived at the meeting, but the secretary of Minister Vranić told us that he would come at 9 AM instead of 8:30 AM. We waited until 9, but he was not there even then, and we had to leave because we had a scheduled meeting in Tuzla.

And it would be absurd to wait for him any longer - said Enida Glušac, president of the Association of Breast Cancer Patients "Renesansa," for Patria.

Stood up by Minister Vranić

Nor did the subsequent meeting in Tuzla yield the expected result. Glušac says that representatives of the Tuzla Canton (TK) authorities told them they have no legal basis to fulfill what the Government of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina ordered them to do.

- They believe they are fulfilling their part of the obligation, while patients have not had radiotherapy since March - Glušac said disappointedly.

However, they received good news in the Posavina Canton, where they were told they have no patients on waiting lists. Specifically, out of 181 severely ill patients, 135 are covered by the Solidarity Fund, and the remaining 46 by the Croatian Health Insurance Fund (HZZO).

Glušac reminds that the federal Solidarity Fund began operations on July 1, 2002. The law stipulates that it is financed from two sources - through regular contributions from all taxpayers, and the same amount annually was to be provided by the Government of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina.

However, Glušac says, this law was only respected in the first year after the establishment of the Solidarity Fund, and in all subsequent years, the Government paid up to 20 percent of the prescribed amount.

- In the first three quarters of this year, contributions of 150 million KM were realized, and it is estimated that 50 million KM will be paid in the fourth quarter, i.e., 200 million KM for the entire year.

Glušac: Law respected only in the first year

This Government of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina was supposed to pay that much as well, but it transferred only 33.5 million KM to the Solidarity Fund account. Adding the 10 million from the budget revision, we arrive at the figure of 43.5 million KM.

When we add and subtract everything, it turns out that the Government shortchanged the Solidarity Fund by 156.5 million KM this year alone, which is an extremely large amount of money.

Because, if it had paid the amount prescribed by law, our patients would no longer be on waiting lists but would be treated according to all European standards - Glušac told us.

She emphasizes that it is not even known how many people have died on waiting lists in the past 22 years, adding that someone should finally be held accountable for the deaths of all those people.

Today at 10 AM, representatives of the associations of the most severely ill have a meeting with authorities of the Una-Sana Canton (USK), and tomorrow they go to Goražde, and then to Zenica.