Elaborating the Bill, Dr Nebojsa Stefanovic stressed that the goal is to ensure health services and healthcare for children, pregnant women and mothers, as well as other vulnerable categories, up to a year after giving birth even when the health care documents have not been validated due to unpaid compulsory health insurance contributions.
In the course of the discussion the Committee members said how important it is to pass the Bill so as to protect and improve the health of children, pregnant women and mothers. They stated that the issue of efficient healthcare for other vulnerable population categories, such the disabled and persons with developmental problems, remains to be addressed.
The importance of the Bill was also underlined by Assistant Minister of Health Prim. Dr Zoran Kovacevic, Director of the Republic Health Insurance Fund Prof. Dr Momcilo Babic and the President of the Health Council of Serbia Prof. Dr Dragan Delic.
After the discussion, the Committee members adopted the Bill on the Exercise of Right to Health Care of Children, Pregnant Women and Mothers, in principle.
The Committee went on to forward a suggestion to the National Assembly Speaker to set up a working group to ascertain the legal framework for the establishment of a single healthcare fund for the treatment of children, so as to prevent the misuse of funds collected for such purposes.
The Committee members also appealed to family Ognjanovic, asking that the unspent money collected in the humanitarian drive be used for the treatment of other children in need.