The citizens of Bosnia and Herzegovina must take responsibility for the future of the country and must not allow politicians to lead the country to renewed conflicts, and the health system needs to be unified in order to be effective. He said that in Dnevnik D dr. Bakir Nakaš, prominent humanist, anti-fascist and member of the Board of Directors of SABNOR – a man for whom humanity is a profession, and the Statehood Day of Bosnia and Herzegovina is more important than his birthday.
At the beginning of the conversation, he referred to the leptospirosis epidemic in Sarajevo, saying that, nevertheless, one responsibility that previously existed in the health system is somewhat weaker today. Some things are being missed that should be under control.
“I don’t remember leptospirosis appearing during the war, when there were many situations where we couldn’t control the hygiene conditions in our environment. Unfortunately, today we are witnessing leptospirosis appearing in a form that is almost epidemic. It is fortunate that the cantonal minister decided to make a decision that it is an epidemic. It is not just leptospirosis in the Sarajevo Canton. There were also a certain number of children infected with measles, a certain number of children suffering from whooping cough,” he explained.
He adds that the information should have been made public as soon as something was known because, as he says, any delay and postponement leads to certain situations when a much larger number of new cases will appear.
“For this reason, it is important that the communication with the citizens, with the media, be such that you have the opportunity to have information about everything that is happening. There are elements that are surely covered up for some other reasons. Are these the reasons for politicians and those who rule today to present their results as positive, that there are no negative elements. I think that, nevertheless, the passivity that is present and the absence of certain responsibility towards diseases is a little more pronounced today than before,” believes Nakaš.
He also talked about how dangerous leptospirosis infection is from a professional point of view.
“Considering the previous cases that were present in BiH and all the consequences that followed, the result is that leptospirosis was more related to occupational diseases. These are people who were involved in certain controls in nature, fishermen, hunters, who were exposed in conditions where there was no possibility of preventive action against the disease. Today, unfortunately, due to a series of cases and conditions that are negative in BiH, starting with the fact that deratization has not been carried out, starting with the fact that today we throw away a lot of food and leave it for rats and mice to feed, we have enabled them to have a far better standard of living than citizens have in their apartments,” he explained.
Nakaš also referred to the current political situation in our country, stressing that there is a danger that is not at the same level as it was in 1992, when there was a question of whether a war would start.
“However, this current state, when there is no accountability of politicians for their actions or inaction, results in a situation where we don’t know what will happen to us tomorrow. Today we have a normal life, tomorrow we won’t have it. I think a lot is left to the situation and happenings. Some things can change overnight and for that reason I am not sure that it is nice and pleasant to live in BiH today. Today in BiH a person needs to imagine how to spend the day and how to ensure a better tomorrow for his family”, Nakaš points out.
When asked how best to defend the country, he said that the time has come for citizens to take responsibility for the future of Bosnia and Herzegovina.
“I think that allowing politicians to do what they are doing today is something that could lead us to a situation where we are nowhere further from where we were in 1992. Today, however, citizens need to show a certain level of responsibility and to call out and invite those who are in power today to change. I think that the time has come in BiH for someone to raise their hand and voice, to tell politicians – you can’t do it like this. They need to be shown that someone needs to remove them if they don’t do their job. And many of them don’t do their job,” he said categorically.
We can change a lot – young people should raise their voices, he said.
“Unfortunately, a lot of young people are leaving BiH. They are going to Slovenia, Croatia, Germany, other countries, and there they are trying to create conditions for a better life. In BiH, I am not sure that we have enough energy that could lead to a change in the situation,” Nakaš assessed.
Asked if the West is tacitly giving up on Bosnia and Herzegovina, he says “the West only cares about how to create more income and how to enable those in power to have what others do not have”.
“The West gives up on everything. It gives up on Palestine, Ukraine, Bosnia and Herzegovina,” he underlined.
He also said that “if we continue to fight against each other, Bosnia and Herzegovina will not have a future”.
“Looking at what is happening in the world and in BiH, we are witnesses that if we continue like this, we will certainly reach a situation where BiH will not be in the form in which we wanted it to be. We must do everything to ensure that those in power, if they need to be removed, bring in someone who is more responsible and who will certainly lead to BiH returning to what it used to be. Even today you see that some, others and others have some special appetites and special desires that are related to their personal interests. No one wants to stop and protect BiH the way that that system protected it, and that is Josip Broz Tito and those people who decided then – BiH will be the only one like the others and will be a republic that will have no differences from other republics. All of this could have happened in the period of 1945. However, someone was aware and responsible enough to say – no. And in that period from 1945 to 1992, we can only thank those people for having a peaceful life,” he said.
There is no capacity to return BiH to where it was, Nakaš added.
Finally, he commented on the current situation in the field of healthcare. Many say – we are threatened with the collapse of the health care system, doctors and medical staff are leaving, there are not enough specialists.
Nakaš says that we made a mistake in that we divided health care into cantonal ministries that only see their own interests in their environment.
“Unfortunately, today you have a situation where in the Federation of BiH and the Republika Srpska you have completely different foundations that have led to some new health systems. Will society become aware again and ensure that the health system should be unified – because health cannot be divided into one canton, another canton, one nation, another nation, but must be regulated through a single relationship to enable patients to live in a way that they are insured and have security. The division that has led to certain cantons reaching one level of development, where you have a surplus of hospitals, while other cantons do not even have basic health centers, does not lead to anything good. I think we need to bring politicians to the table and tell them what needs to be changed in the health system. What was in the system that existed until 1992 would be much more adequate and logical if it were still happening today,” Nakaš concluded for Federal Television.
