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If the financing of health care should remain next year on the current level and current range of health care should be maintained it would be according to the Minister of Health unsustainable. She accepted that amount of sources for next year depends also on financial condition of the state. As she however highlighted, one thing is the financial condition and the other one are priorities. Ministry is currently trying to continue in savings through pharmaceutical policy, as according to her, the share of finances on pharmaceuticals is still too large.

Medical trade unionists refuse the creation of common act, which would adjust the salaries of all healthcare employees including doctors and nurses. Opening of medical act trade unions considers as an attack to the social harmony achieved by signing of memorandum with Government at the end of last year. Trade unionists are in the case of opening of this act considering the repeating of their original requirements, which they gave up for maintaining of social harmony in Slovak Republic. 

Private company offering a neonatal screening for ten most common inherited metabolic disorders embarrassed Minister of Health Zuzana Zvolenská. Company is competing with similar project of state Newborn Screening Centre in Children's Faculty Hospital in Banská Bystrica. Commercial screening, however, has to be paid by parents. According to the Minister of Health Slovakia belongs to the best countries in the neonatal screening and she does not like the replacing of above standard commercial activity for screening.

Slovakia as the only country of European Union has the biggest free e-learning portal for doctors. It is, however, not available for doctors working in the capital city. This is caused by the rules of the Union, which under Structural funds finances this project. Slovak legislation and the Ministry of Health allegedly cannot influence this fact. The rule is set by the European Union and in the frame of projects sponsored from Structural Funds it applies also to other countries.

New directors of hospitals in Košice and Banská Bystrica already announced the steps, which they will take to improve the financial situation of their hospitals. They should involve also the dismissals or reduction of bonuses, which are set in the collective contract. Other funds managers want to save on pharmaceuticals and medical material and also by the more consistent planning of hospitalizations. Dismissals and reduction of bonuses is allegedly planned also in other hospitals, including the smaller general hospitals.

The most influential medical organization, Slovak Medical Chamber, has a new leader from Saturday. Delegates of Žilina concilium chose for a President the main face of last year´s strikes of doctors, Marián Kollár. He won unexpectedly smoothly in the first round, in which he clearly beat other candidates from previous management. Kollár until March headed the medical trade union, which last year unleashed the biggest strike of doctors in the history of the country. New management of the Chamber is concerning part of politicians, who are afraid, that Chamber might be changed into the trade union organization.

Company Zentiva Hlohovec has greatly outraged in 2011. Its net profit amounted only € 7.55 million. Year before it was € 54.8, that is seven times less. Revenues were comparable in both years, but production costs, however, last year sharply increased. They increased from € 87 million in 2010 to € 142.8 in 2011. Producer of generics declined to comment on the reasons of the drop in his profit. 

Hospitals are again mired in debts. About half year after releasing of their debts by state the turning in vicious cycle is repeating. They already owe only to Social Insurance Company more than € 36 million. If they do not pay or do not make an agreement on the timetable, their debts will be recovered by executor and hospitals will thus lose even more money. This happed last year in hospital in Považská Bystrica. Employees, for who the hospitals do not pay the contributions, might bring the suit against them.  

Minister of Health Zuzana Zvolenská sees this or next year no space for penetrative increasing of salaries of other healthcare professionals, as it was in the case of doctors and nurses. Minister should meet their representatives at the beginning of June and she expects the requirements for enhancement of salaries from their side. Zvolenská pointed out, that „dramatic“ increasing of wages of these healthcare employees would mean the end of particular healthcare institutions.

Investment group Penta has launched the sale of its laboratories Alpha medical. Their sale is allegedly managed by Rothschild Bank International, which already asked potential candidates to submit their offers for purchase by June, the 27th. Company, which will receive Alpha medical, will become a strong market leader. There are few strong players operating in Slovak business with laboratories, which might be interested in purchasing of laboratories. Any of them will, however, need an approval of Antimonopoly Office. An interest was already openly expressed by the company Medirex, which currently competes for leadership in Slovakia with Penta laboratories.