As Poslovni Dnevnik writes on the 8th of April, 2020, respected and reputable Croatian scientist at Goethe University in Frankfurt, Ivan Đikić, discussed everything you need to know about the coronavirus epidemic with N1.
A few days ago, the Croatian scientist warned the public about what they should do in the ongoing coronavirus crisis in order to continue the excellent results Croatia has been seeing in the fight against the pandemic when compared to very many other countries.
Commenting on how policies are responding to the challenges of the coronavirus epidemic, Đikić said that it is paramount that experts, epidemiologists, infectologists and scientists provide accurate data and that those who make policies remain in the background and listen to the profession and make their decisions based on their advice, N1 reports.
“In Croatia, we were fortunate that the Minister of Health assumed the responsible function of being an expert first and then a politician. It’s evident that he didn’t take advantage with his function in the Government or his political identity card, but first and foremost he was an expert and he worked for the benefit of Croatia,” said Đikić, praising other health care staff up and down the country, adding that they’re all working for the benefit of society.
“The only message to politicians is that unfortunately they haven’t prepared the health care system or citizens with education that we could have jointly responded to this crisis earlier and there would have been much less loss. But now we are where we are, and we need to fix these shortcomings,” the Croatian scientist said.
He also criticised the behaviour of individual politicians.
“It’s unfortunate and irresponsible that politicians can’t at least refrain from arguing and using this tragic situation to their advantage. Croatia could see that the experts were working for its benefit. The politicians need to understand that appointing people as heads of institutions, hospitals and nursing homes is a bad political move,” Đikić added.
He also appealed to Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic and SDP president Davor Bernardic, urging them to sit down at a table and act together to include both government and opposition recommendations and jointly decide on protecting health, democracy and citizens from unnecessary political strife.
“We’re not in the security phase, we’re in a very dangerous phase and such obstacles threaten our progress. If we all work together, we can say that we’ve been successful,” the esteemed Croatian scientist told N1.
The prominent Croatian scientist noted that he was in contact with the Minister of Health, Vili Beros, and that he advised him and citizens whenever he was called upon.
“I’m really trying to help the public and the experts with all of my advice,” Đikić said.
“Be responsible. Understand that we have no drugs or vaccines [for coronavirus]. The only thing we can do is to work together to isolate the virus in our midst and we can beat it if we behave harmoniously. We need to trust the experts, we have to trust the science, but we have to work together to succeed,” he said.
Make sure to follow our dedicated section for more on coronavirus in Croatia.
