President Milanović Meets with Representatives of Limbless Association, Concern Raised over Inadequate and Outdated Aids

The President of the Republic Zoran Milanović met today in his Office with representatives of the Limbless Association of the City of Zagreb and Zagreb County, Association President Ana Sršen, Secretary Damjan Lisska, Supervisory Board President Anita Lauri Korajlija, Expert Associate Morena Mitak, member of the Limbless Association and the Association of  Category 1 100% Croatian Disabled War Veterans Mario Filipi, member of the Association of Disabled Persons of Split Klaudija Barbarić Mešin and Association member Ivan Katanušić.

Representatives of the Association, which was established in 2013 due to the shared need of amputees to connect and fully integrate into all aspects of society, informed President Milanović about the problems they have been unsuccessfully trying to solve for years. Since its establishment, the Association has been actively working to improve the quality of life of amputees through various activities, they said, but their problem is still the lack of understanding of the problem by the competent institutions.

They emphasized that the Croatian Health Insurance Fund (HZZO) orthopaedic aids list, which still contains inadequate and outdated aids, is the biggest problem, which is also the reason for the insufficient inclusion of persons with disabilities in active social life, the representatives said. In order to introduce new aids, it would be necessary to make amendments to the current HZZO orthopaedic aids list, but there is no will for that, the representatives warned. As testament to the fact that the HZZO list is outdated, the delegation said that the list also includes aids that are no longer being manufactured.

The provision of high-quality and modern orthopaedic aids is a prerequisite for every amputee to achieve a good quality of life and a fulfilling life. Therefore, in cooperation with the Society for Prosthetics and Orthotics ISPO Croatia and the Institute for Rehabilitation and Orthopaedic Aids, for the past six years the Association has been proposing that changes be made to the HZZO orthopaedic aids list and for modern aids to be introduced (e.g.: mechatronic knees). Members of the Association believe that the provision of aids to disabled persons – which fulfil their individual needs – would suffice. They underscored, in particular, that Croatia is bound by Article 20 of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities to provide quality orthopaedic aids.

Adviser to the President of the Republic for Education Jadranka Žarković was at the meeting alongside President Milanović.

PHOTO: Office of the President of the Republic of Croatia / Tomislav Bušljeta