08:30 – 09:00 Registration

09:00 Conference Opening

Nina Išek Međugorac

Director, HealthComm Forum

asst. prof. Irena Hrstić, MD, PhD

Minister of Health

The year 2025 brings global shifts in healthcare, and Croatia is facing challenges that demand decisive steps toward a more sustainable health system and the restoration of public trust.

In a conversation with the Minister of Health, we will discuss the key guidelines that will shape the future of health in Croatia.

How can the prevention of non-communicable diseases—which are the leading cause of death and health challenges worldwide—become a national priority? Can health management be guided by a holistic (body, environment, society) and inclusive approach? How quickly can we deliver personalized treatment and harness the advanced technologies already available to us? Are we capable of identifying risk factors, issuing clear recommendations for their reduction, and defining control points to minimize overall health risks?

Moderator: Sandra Erak, Hrvatski radio, HRT, Editor of the program Izaberi zdravlje

With healthcare systems under unprecedented pressure, change is imperative. Discover how collaboration and innovation can extend healthy life expectancy and create sustainable models that reduce the burden of chronic diseases, improve quality of life, and secure long-term social and economic development.

Panelists:

• asst. prof. Marija Bubaš, primarius MD, State secretary, Ministry of Health
• Zofia Das-Gupta, PhD, Senior director, ICHOM
• prof. Romana Jerković, MD, PhD, Vice-Chair, Committee on Public Health (SANT) in the European Parliament
• Vladko Borić, Astra Zeneca, Business Unit Director Rare Diseases Balkans
• Damir Vrsajković, Member of the Management Board, Chief Product Development Officer, Telemach Hrvatska

Moderator: prof. Niek Klazinga, MD, PhD, Consultant, OECD; Prof. Emeritus, University of Amsterdam

prof. Sanja Musić Milanović, MD, PhD

Architect of the national “Living Healthy” program and First Lady of the Republic of Croatia

In this conversation with Prof. Sanja Musić Milanović – a leading public health expert, architect of the national “Living Healthy” program, and the wife of the President of the Republic of Croatia – we explore a vital question: Can health be positioned as a strategic state priority, not just a healthcare issue?

The “Living Healthy” program, co-funded by the European Union and implemented through five societal platforms – from nutrition and physical activity to mental health and workplace wellness – is a strong example that a systematic, science-based, and multisectoral intervention can slow down the epidemic of obesity and chronic diseases.

At a time when Europe is facing rising healthcare costs, this is a unique opportunity for Croatia to position itself as a model of proactive health policy in practice.

Moderator: Iva Šulentić, Host of the HealthComm Forum

The curative model of care is losing ground against mounting modern challenges. How do we make prevention the backbone of healthcare, not the exception? This panel explores proactive system reorientation – through expanded vaccination programs, early diagnoses, and screening – with collaboration among ministries, institutions, businesses, academia, and patients, to achieve measurable outcomes and cost savings.

Panelists:

• Ivana Portolan Pajić, MD, Head of the Department for Primary Health Care and Health Tourism, Ministry of Health
• Verica Kralj, primarius MD, Specialist in Epidemiology, Croatian Institute of Public Health / Department of Cardiovascular Diseases and Registries
• Diane Thomson, Pfizer, Senior Director, Global Policy & Public Affairs: Vaccines
• Olgica Velkovski Škopić, Deputy President, Croatian Chamber of Pharmacists

Moderator: Anamarija Hrvoić Đurić, Director of Strategic Communications, Manjgura

Damir Ivanković, MD, MBA, PhD

Independent health systems researcher and consultant

Grounded in data, this lecture will attempt to contextualise Croatia’s health system – its strengths and weaknesses – in the broader European landscape. It will draw on key comparative data from recent WHO publications: the European Health Report 2024 and the WHO Taking the Pulse report on quality of care and patient safety.

As a consultant, Damir was one of the authors of the European Health Report 2024. Please note that speakers affiliated with the World Health Organization (WHO) are solely responsible for the views expressed during this event, which do not necessarily represent the decisions or policies of the WHO. Alongside facts and figures, we will also find inspiration in the legacy of Andrija Štampar and the artistic philosophy of … (let this be a surprise.)

Through the experience and knowledge of managers from the healthcare sector about transformations, optimization and implementation of innovations, we discuss the new foundations of healthcare that, through prevention, personalization and technology, restore trust in the system, strengthen the social contract and renew the social safety net, creating a vision of health as a collective good.

Panelists:

• prof. Fran Borovečki, MD, PhD, Director General, University Hospital Centre Zagreb
• Nikolina Dizdar Čehulić, President of the Management Board, Pliva
• prof. Stjepan Orešković, PhD, Entrepreneur and Scientist
• Ino Protrka, MD, Director, Health Center Zagreb – Center
• Aron Grubešić, MD, Representative for Croatia, Acibadem Healthcare Group

Moderator: Kristina Laco, Co-Founder, Colić, Laco & Partners Communications Agency

prof. Niek Klazinga, MD, PhD

Consultant, OECD; Prof. Emeritus, University of Amsterdam

Based on the latest OECD and EU data, we gain insight into current challenges facing health systems, such as health worker shortages, fiscal and environmental sustainability, and changes in public trust in medicine. How different initiatives are trying to respond to these challenges while striving for value-based healthcare and balancing short-term healthcare needs with long-term outcomes?

How strengthening national health data infrastructure, along with appropriate health system governance and integrated healthcare delivery models, can help address these challenges and make healthcare systems more resilient?

Q&A

Health is not just a medical issue – it reflects society. Health systems therefore need to turn to proactive, holistic approaches that connect health with social and environmental conditions, because the broader social picture affects health outcomes, but a healthy system can also contribute to a more just, stable society. The focus of this panel is on the role of the individual: how their behavior, environment and availability of support shape the overall picture of health.

Panelists:

• Sanja Šagud, General Manager for Strategic Business Unit Pharmacy, Atlantic grupa
• Gabrijela Ištuk, Psychologist, Expert Associate of the Cedevita educational platform Budi DOBRO. Budi CE
• Vjekoslava Amerl Šakić, primarius MD, Specialist in School and Family Medicine
• Davorka Gajari, PhD, Director of the Department of Sensory Analysis and Nutrition, Podravka

Moderator: Natko Beck, MD, Srebrnjak Children’s Hospital

Neven Zitek 

Cybersecurity Business Solutions Director, Span

Healthcare is rapidly becoming digital, electronic health records, diagnostic systems, communication between institutions – all of this brings more efficient care, but at the same time opens space for serious security threats.

Cyber-attacks on healthcare systems are no longer the exception, but an everyday reality across Europe. The consequences are not just technical – they affect patients, treatment and trust in the entire system. How can we ensure that healthcare systems remain reliable and accessible even in an ever-changing digital environment? Data protection is not just a technical challenge, it is the foundation of trust – and without trust, healthcare loses its meaning.

Healthcare today cannot function without data — it is crucial how accurate it is, how quickly it travels through systems, and how protected it is. For data to truly become a tool for better treatment, healthcare systems must be interconnected — and thoroughly protected. Without interoperability, there are no fast, informed, and timely decisions. Without security, there is no trust or sustainable development of systems.

Through concrete examples from practice, we learn how secure information flows — based on a solid, protected infrastructure — speed up diagnosis, prevent medical errors, and provide doctors with complete, timely, and reliable insight into a patient’s condition. Which directly leads to better, more personalized, and more humane healthcare.

This discussion raises a key question: how to build a secure and resilient digital infrastructure?

Panelists:

• Nikola Modrušan, Director of the Directorate for the Development of State Information Infrastructure and Electronic Services, Ministry of Justice, Public Administration and Digital Transformation
• Saša Kramar, Member of the Management Board, Span
• Carola Gasparini, Head of the IT Department, University Hospital Centre Rijeka
• Ivan Bekavac, MD, Head of the Office for the Recognition of Foreign Professional Qualifications, Croatian Medical Chamber; Chair of the Commission of the City of Zagreb
• Hrvoje Belani, Ministry of Health, Directorate for e-Health, Head of the Sector for Implementation and Improvement of Information Systems

Moderator: Mario Dukarić, Director, Val grupa

In the European Union, access to medicines does not depend on medical need — but on geography. Why do patients in Croatia and other smaller markets wait months, even years, for therapies that are already standard in others? The new pharmaceutical reform seeks to create a single market and a fairer system, but key questions remain: How to balance intellectual property rights with the right to life? How to encourage the arrival of innovations in less profitable markets? And what is the real cost of inequality?

This panel brings together key stakeholders whose experiences, views and suggestions are extremely important for shaping policies in which health truly has no borders.

Panelists:

• Ana Gongola, PhD, President of the Croatian Employers’ Association – Association of Pharmaceutical Manufacturers; Vice President of the Members’ Council, Croatian Employers’ Association (HUP)
• asst. prof. Tomislav Sokol, PhD, Member of the European Parliament
• prof. Iveta Merćep, MD, PhD, KBC Zagreb, Croatian Health Insurance Fund
• Goranka Marušić Kontent, EU Affairs Advisor, HALMED

Moderator: Iris Duka Kramar, Senior Advisor and Team Lead, Alpheus

08:30 – 9:00 Registration

prof. Søren Brunak, MSc, PhD, dr. phil. h. c.

Professor and Research Director, Department of Public Health, at the Univesity of Copenhagen Medical School

The increasing number of patients suffering from a range of chronic non-communicable diseases and receiving different pharmacotherapies represents a major social problem in today’s aging population.

We learn how precision medicine, with new types of data (e.g. genetic data) combined with health data analysis, improves diagnostics and treatment planning to enable individualized knowledge relevant to decision-making during treatment.

Q&A

We are living longer, but while suffering from diseases. The key question is therefore not how much we spend on health, but where we direct those resources.

The panel focuses on concrete actions that decision-makers can initiate immediately, within existing policy cycles, while accelerating progress towards global goals – in particular, reducing premature mortality from non-communicable diseases by 2030. Through an integrated approach, we show how smart resource reallocation can create a healthier, more sustainable and resilient health system.

Panelists:

• Vesna Štefančić Martić, MD, Member of the Executive Board and Chair of the Public Health Committee, Croatian Medical Chamber
• Sarah Abitbol, Head of Advocacy and Policy, EUPHA (European Public Health Association)
• Karla Raffaelli, President of the Association of Generic Drug Manufacturers; Member of the Executive Board of the HUP Association of Pharmaceutical Manufacturers; Member of the Members’ Council, Croatian Employers’ Association (HUP)
• Miloš Ičević, MD, Business Unit Director Oncology, AstraZeneca Balkans
• asst. prof. Ivan Kruljac, MD, PhD, Director and Co-Founder, Polyclinic SOLMED

Moderator: Damir Ivanković, MD, MBA, PhD, Consultant, WHO Regional Office for Europe

This panel brings concrete solutions – from innovative medical devices and digital tools to personalized care and community support. Nurses, doctors, pharmacists, device manufacturers and representatives of patient associations will come together to discuss how modern approaches can make life with a diagnosis easier. Through practical examples, we will explore how by connecting the professionals, industry and patients we can create a more efficient and humane healthcare system.

Panelists:

• Melita Smolek, MD, Director, Medikal Lux
• Vesna Konjevoda, PhD, ET. univ. mag. med. techn., President, Association of Nurses and Medical Technicians in Digestive Surgery
• Darko Pejnović, Country Manager for the Croatian Market and Southeast Europe Region, Jadran-Galenski Laboratorij
• Anastazija Vasileva Pokrajac, Market Director for the Adria Region, Belupo; Member of the Management Board, PharmaVita BiH
• Nadica Bjelčić, City of Zagreb, Chairwoman of the Commission for the Protection of Patients’ Rights

Moderator: Mirela Stanić Popović, Executive Director, Krijesnica

We are bringing together the directors of the national public health institutes of Slovenia and Croatia, leading regional thinkers in the field of public health policy, to discuss the future of healthcare. A future that rests on the integration of health systems and public health, where prevention, health literacy and active citizen participation builds a resilient and sustainable society. In which public health institutions must actively shape citizens’ attitudes, trust in the system and intersectoral cooperation.

Panelists:

• assoc. prof. Branko Gabrovec, PhD, General Director, National Institute of Public Health
• asst. prof. Tomislav Benjak, MD, PhD, Croatian Institute of Public Health, Assistant Director for Quality

Moderator: Mario Aunedi Medek, Director, Val grupa

prof. Ivan Đikić, MD, PhD, dr. h. c.
Director, Institute of Biochemistry ll at the Goethe University

Let’s explore the key role of homeostasis of life processes in cells as the foundation of human health, presenting the latest scientific knowledge about the molecular connection and communication between 10¹⁰ cells in the body and how disruptions in this communication can lead to the development of disease. Based on these discoveries, approaches to treatment are increasingly successfully adapted to changes in the cells of each individual. Understanding these processes also allows us to more precisely predict the mechanisms that support health, paving the way for a personalized approach to medicine and lifestyle adjustments for long-term health preservation.

Q&A

What until recently belonged to the distant future – early diagnosis, personalized care, prevention before symptoms – is today a reality as AI is changing healthcare faster than we could have imagined. The panel opens a conversation about whether AI – as a silent collaborator of healthcare professionals and systems – can fundamentally reshape healthcare, not one day in the future, but tomorrow. Because true breakthroughs don’t happen when technology becomes perfect, but when we start using it – wisely, ethically, and for everyone.

Panelists:

• Anja Barešić, PhD, Project Coordinator of AI4Health, Ruđer Bošković Institute
• Siniša Košćina, Director of Mergers, Acquisitions and Business Development – Healthcare, IN2 Group
• Robert Likić, PhD, KBC Zagreb, Internal medicine specialist
• Vanja Šebek, Algebra, Head of Study of Digital Marketing; IAB, Member of the AI Working Group

Moderator: Sanya-Eduarda Kuzet, PhD, Manager, Boston Consulting Group