At the sitting held on 3 April 2009, the Committee members considered the financing of health services in times of economic crisis and adopted the following

CONCLUSIONS

1. The Committee expresses concern for the irresponsible behaviour of the Ministry of Finance which did not want to send a representative to attend the meeting giving as reason that they are busy moving the Ministry.

2. The addresses of the representatives of the Ministry of Health and the Republic Health Insurance Institute give the impression that the Serbian Government has not considered the possible scope of the economic crisis Serbia will face, and that there is no clearly defined variety of programs of measures to confront it.

3. The Committee advocates a rigorous cutting of all needless investments in the health sector in the upcoming period.

4. The Committee believes that reorienting the policy to attribute the biggest importance to prevention must be grounded in a reallocation of available funds in favour of primary health protection, not secondary and tertiary as is now the case.

5. They pointed out that the revenue from non-standard services, which in 2008 exceeded 27 billion dinars, and which the health institutions handled in a nontransparent manner, should be directed towards the Republic Health Insurance Institute. These funds can, thus, significantly cover the planned budget deficit.

6. The Committee applauds and endorses the position of the Ministry of Health that the citizens’ rights and the volume of health services provided must not be decreased, as well as that particular care be devoted to the most endangered categories of the population.

The sitting was chaired by the Committee Chairman, Dr Paja Momcilov, and attended by Zeljko Milosevic, State Secretary at the Ministry of Health, Zorica Pavlovic, Assistant Minister of Health and Petronije Dragovic, director of the Economic Sector of the Republic Health Insurance Institute.