President Milanović Meets with Leadership and Members of Association of Multiple Sclerosis Societies of Croatia

The President of the Republic Zoran Milanović received today a delegation of the Association of Multiple Sclerosis Societies of Croatia and representatives of county member societies, who informed him about the specific problems and needs of multiple sclerosis patients, including possible solutions, and about the work of the Association of Multiple Sclerosis Societies of Croatia.

At the meeting, the delegation particularly pointed out to President Milanović that the Association of Multiple Sclerosis Societies of Croatia does not have adequate facilities in Zagreb. The current working space is not sufficient for the association’s needs, warned Executive Director Dijana Roginić. President Milanović believes that the Association of Multiple Sclerosis Societies, due to the specific aspects of its work, deserves to have an appropriate facility, and he calls on municipal authorities in Zagreb to take this issue into consideration and ultimately provide the association with adequate working space.

Furthermore, the representatives of the Association of Multiple Sclerosis Societies informed the President of the Republic about their desire to open a rehabilitation centre that would greatly assist multiple sclerosis patients, for which, they said, they would also need help at the city or county level, while the association would use EU funding to equip the centre. The mental health of people suffering from multiple sclerosis was also a topic of the meeting, which was discussed by psychology professor Boris Blažinić, who is a member of the association’s Expert Committee for Medical Issues.

Multiple sclerosis is a chronic autoimmune disease of the central nervous system that affects younger people. There are about 7,000 multiple sclerosis patients in Croatia, and most of them are women. In order to stop the progression of the disease, prompt treatment with drugs that modify the course of the disease is very important, and one of the biggest achievements of the association, in cooperation with the Croatian Neurological Society, is that it has managed to amend the 20-year-old discriminatory criteria for the treatment of MS patients, thereby bringing treatment closer to European standards. Medicines are available and every afflicted person today has the right to therapy, said Association President Branka Lukić.

The Association of Multiple Sclerosis Societies of Croatia is the national umbrella organization of multiple sclerosis patients that provides support to those suffering from the disease through care, support, advocacy and education, and its vision is “Croatia without obstacles for a good life with MS.” Twenty-one county societies are members of the association and they are contributing, on a daily basis, to improving the quality of life of persons with multiple sclerosis.

Also attending the meeting in the Office of the President – apart from Association of Multiple Sclerosis Societies of Croatia President Branka Lukić, Association Vice President and  President of the Brod-Posavina County Society Željko Pudić, Association Executive Director Dijana Roginić and member of the Association’s Expert Committee for Medical Issues Boris Blažinić – were the representatives of these county member societies: Žarko Ivičić of the City of Zagreb, Nada Smrekar of Krapina-Zagorje County, Danijela Šaka of Sisak-Moslavina County, Jasmina Slavnić of Karlovac County, Irena Vrdoljak of Varaždin County, Radmila Funtek of Koprivnica-Križevci County, Bojan Blažević of Bjelovar-Bilogora County, Larisa Gačanin of Primorje-Gorski Kotar County, Vesna Štefanek of Požega-Slavonia County, Kristina Matković of Osijek-Baranja County, Zoran Oljača of Vukovar-Srijem County, Ivana Kokić of Split-Dalmatia County, Snježana Raić of Istria County, Patricija Švaljek of Dubrovnik-Neretva County, Ljiljana Brkić of Virovitica-Podravina County.

President Milanović was accompanied by the Adviser to the President of the Republic for the Economy Velibor Mačkić.

PHOTO: Office of the President of the Republic of Croatia / Dario Andrišek