Health care

Hospital health care, in the area of ZDC, is provided in the Cantonal Hospital Zenica and the General Hospital Tešanj, as well as in two hospitals in Žepče and Olovo. In all cities within the Canton, there are Health Centers, which are in charge of the primary level of health care. In addition to the above, in the Zenica-Doboj Canton there is the Institute for Health and Food Safety, as the umbrella institution in health care in the Canton.

Outpatient health care is organized through 99 points and 242 primary health care offices, and through 29 points of specialist-consultative services. The number of registered private health care institutions is increasing: in 2017 there were 152 private institutions, and in 2013 there were 119.

In the field of health in 2018, there were 3,837 workers. Of these, 25.6 % are non-health staff, noting that, at the level of primary health care, an insufficient number of doctors is evident, since that 50 % of total number of doctors are at the level of secondary health care, and 80 % of health problems should be addressed at the primary level.

There are emergency medical services at the health centers. What is important in health care, and represents a link between primary and secondary health care are emergency centers within cities in the Canton, so it is necessary to open Emergency Centers, for example, in Tešanj, Žepče and Vareš, which will be well equipped and medical staff, and, thus, a large number of health emergencies could be resolved in the shortest possible time.

Intentions and priority activities for the development of health care in the area of Zenica- Doboj Canton are directed/related to the transformation of the Cantonal Hospital Zenica into a University Hospital, and then, when all conditions are met in the University Clinical Center, to provide tertiary health services to the population to the growing needs of the population for tertiary health care.

The development of the University Clinical Center in the Canton would strengthen the institutional role and development of the Medical Faculty of the University of Zenica, and thus, in an adequate way, educate the staff of doctors and highly educated nurses, which is necessary to improve the quality of health services. Within the Medical Faculty of ZDC, there are plans for the establishment of Centers for Healthy Aging, which should be strategically developed and implemented, so that the authorities and society as a whole, recognize and implement them.

The ZDC Health Insurance Institute is of great importance in the ZDC health system. Its activities are, among other things, aimed at implementing the policy of development and improvement of health care provided by compulsory health insurance, planning and raising funds for compulsory health insurance, and payment for services to health institutions, activities related to exercising the rights of insured persons, timely and legal exercising their rights, and providing professional assistance in exercising their rights and protecting their interests, as well as all other tasks related to exercising the rights from the compulsory health insurance of ZDC as a governing body. The Institute has a total of 12 branches located in the cities/municipalities of ZDC.

The coverage of the population with health insurance varied over the years and increased from 85,15 % in 2009 to 92,96 % in 2018. According to the Analysis of the situation and needs of young people in the Zenica-Doboj Canton (2017), young people mainly use public health insurance through parents/guardians (48 %), and about 20 % of young people are insured through employment bureaus. About 22 % of young people have insurance paid by the employer, and 2 % of young people have additional insurance (private in B&H orabroad).