At the sitting held on 5 March, chaired by Committee Chairman Dr Paja Momcilov, the Committee on Health and the Family considered the Proposal of the Decision on the election of members of the Health Council of Serbia, submitted by the Government of the Republic of Serbia.

Perisa Simonovic, State Secretary at the Ministry of Health briefed the Committee members on the procedure of election of Serbian Health Council members, stressing that the Ministry, pursuant to the regulations, only gave a legal technical formulation to the proposals submitted by professional organizations.

By the Decision Proposal, the following are elected into the Health Council of Serbia: Prof. Dr Slobodan Jankovic, full professor at the Medical Faculty in Kragujevac; Prof. Dr Zoran Latkovic, full professor at the Medical Faculty in Belgrade; Prof. Dr Mirjana Apostolovic, full professor at the Faculty of Stomatology in Nis; Prof. Dr Jela Milic, full professor at the Faculty of Stomatology in Belgrade; academician Ljubisav Rakic, representative of the Serbian Academy of Sciences and Arts; Dr Zlatko Spasic, representative of the Serbian Medical Chamber; Dr Milorad Kovacevic, representative of the Serbian Stomatological Chamber; Gordana Simic, pharmacist, representative of the Serbian Pharmaceutical Chamber; Prof. Dr Svetlana Ignjatovic, representative of the Serbian Chamber of Biochemists; Radmila Jazic, senior nurse at the Clinical Hospital Centre Bezanijska Kosa, representative of the Serbian Chamber of Nurses and Medical Technicians; Col. Prof. Dr Miodrag Colic, representative of the Serbian Medical Society; Prof. Dr Lazar Davidovic, representative of the Serbian Chamber of Healthcare Institutions; Prof. Dr Dragan Delic, full professor at the Medical Faculty in Belgrade, renowned expert in the field of health insurance and financing of health care; Prof. Dr Dragana Pokrajcic, renowned expert in the field of health insurance and financing of health care and Dr Sandra Sipetic-Grujicic, associate professor at the Medical Faculty in Belgrade, renowned expert in the improvement and development of the public health sector.

In the debate on the Decision Proposal, the members of the Health Committee objected to the criteria applied in the process of electing candidates for Serbian Health Council membership. They also criticized the nominations forwarded by the chambers, and pointed out the imprecise definition of the election procedure.

The Committee accepted the Proposal of the Decision on the election of members of the Health Council of Serbia by a majority of votes and forwarded it to the National Assembly to be adopted, while the Committee Chairman Dr Paja Momcilov and Committee members Milan Dimitrijevic, Nikola Zutic, Gordana Paunovic-Milosavljevic and Dusanka Plecevic reserved their opinions. The Committee unanimously decided to forward the CVs of all the candidates for Serbian Health Council membership to all the deputy groups at the National Assembly. Committee Deputy Chairman Simo Vukovic was designated as rapporteur.

The Committee members went on to pass a Conclusion stating that the Committee did not in any way impede or hinder by any act or practice the Decision on the election of members of the Health Council of Serbia being passed by the National Assembly.

The Committee members also passed a Conclusion claiming it necessary to launch an initiative to adopt laws and by-laws which will define the procedure and criteria for the election of Serbian Health Council members more precisely.