Health care issues in Croatian elections 2005-2009: series of public opinion surveys

Abstract

AimTo compare the results of a series of public opinion surveys on experiences with the health care sector in Croatia conducted in the time of elections and to analyze whether political party affiliation had any influence on issues of priority ranking.MethodsThe surveys were conducted during 2005, 2007, and 2009. They were administered through a Computer Assisted Telephone Interviewing method to representative samples of Croatian population and were statistically weighted according to sex, age, level of education, and political party affiliation. The random sampling of the person within the household was done using the table of random numbers.ResultsHealth and health care system was the most important issue (58%) during the 2007 parliamentary election and the second most important issue during the 2005 and 2009 elections (46% and 28%). In the 2007 election, health care was viewed as most important by women, respondents with lower education levels, and respondents with lower income. In 2005, the most important health care issues were corruption and lack of funding (45% and 43%, respectively), in 2007 poor organization and lack of funding (43% and 42%, respectively), and in 2009 lack of funding and corruption (51% and 45%, respectively).ConclusionHealth and health care system were consistently among the top two issues in all elections from 2005 to 2009. The top three most important health care sector issues were corruption, poor organization, and lack of funding. This indicates that political parties should include solutions to these issues in their health care policymaking.

Physicians’ interpersonal relationships and professional standing seen through the eyes of the general public in Croatia

“…These findings are comparable to similar findings from studies conducted by civil society organizations, government institutions, and other researchers in our country 9,10,15,16. Corruption in Croatian health care is neither endemic nor sector-specific and represents an issue embedded in our communities’ culture 16.…”

“…These findings are comparable to similar findings from studies conducted by civil society organizations, government institutions, and other researchers in our country. 9 , 10 , 15 , 16 Corruption in Croatian health care is neither endemic nor sector-specific and represents an issue embedded in our communities’ culture. 16 The majority of the respondents who reported such behavior were those who, because of their age, are using health care services more than others (respondents older than 65 years).…”

Corruption, public trust and medical autonomy in the public health sector of Montenegro: Taking stock of the COVID-19 influence

“…This research is significant for theory-building and relevant for policymaking and medical practice. In our research arena, located in the South East European (SEE) region, other studies have pointed to corruption as one of the primary public health concerns [6][7][8][9][10][11]. Beyond the traditional argument of structural corruption, related to the ex-communist nomenklatura [12], there are arguments based on national and legal culture, classifying only cash payments as a form of corruption and overlooking nepotism or in-kind gifts [13].…”

What is constant in a time of change?

“…I believe that increasing challenges around us should make everybody question the validity of the very basic postulates of our lives. If we adopt this standpoint, the results of the Cover Page study by Radin, Džakula, and Benković in this issue of the Croatian Medical Journal are not at all surprising ( 1 ). The study used the data collected through the telephone interviewing in order to test the pre-election public opinion in the last three Croatian elections.…”