There is an obvious need to take concrete measures by the Government of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina that will enable better health services for patients and reduce waiting lists that are the result of the fact that the amount of financial resources collected for the work of the Solidarity Fund for a long time has not been sufficient to meet the needs of patients. The Centers of Civil Initiatives and civil society organizations that gather patient users of the services of the Solidarity Fund of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina draw attention to this problem.
Devastating data from the Association of people suffering from and treated for breast cancer “Renesansa”, due to the lack of cytostatics in Bosnia and Herzegovina, 209 women with metastatic breast cancer are on waiting lists. This, they claim, is a violation of the Law on Patients’ Needs, Obligations and Rights.
“Women are dying waiting for a cure. It’s not some women there, it’s our fellow citizens, our mothers, daughters, sisters, close friends who are dying of breast cancer without even getting a chance for treatment due to the lack of cytostatics,” points out Enida Glušac from the Association “Renaissance”.
As a result of this fact, people lose faith in the system, laws, healthcare and finally in the state, say the “Futura” association.
“It is not nice to see on social networks that we treat children with SMS messages, that we collect money for individual cases, that we witness various frauds in that area,” believes Marin Bago, president of the “Futura” consumer association.
Based on the importance of the FBiH Solidarity Fund in the provision of health services to citizens, the Centers of Civil Initiatives conducted an analysis of the financing, management and leadership of the Fund. They remind that the Government’s obligation is to provide financial resources from the budget identical to the amount of money that was collected on the basis of allocations from mandatory health insurance contributions.
“Since the establishment of the Solidarity Fund, the Government has never respected this obligation and the Government’s participation amounts to approximately 20 percent of its legal obligation. Out of ten marks per legal obligation, the government gives only 2 marks,” states Dalibor Đerić from the CCI.
While the Government fulfills only 20 percent of its obligations, the waiting lists are getting longer. The Institute of Health Insurance and Reinsurance draws attention to the fact that they are unable to finance all needs without significant support from the FBiH Government, and that an additional 30 to 35 million marks are needed to close the waiting list.
