EU HEALTH FORUM 2026

Changes in the global order are reshaping the rules of the game in healthcare too.

Short-term solutions are no longer an option. 

Healthcare is becoming a strategic issue.

08:30 - 09:00

Registration

SESSION 1.  REDEFINING HEALTHCARE

09:00 – 09:10

Opening of the Forum

Opening remarks by the organizer

09:10 – 09:30 

Opening interview:

Sustainability of the Croatian Healthcare System Under Real Pressures and Future Challenges

09:30 – 09:50

FIRESIDE CHAT:

EU Cardiovascular Plan and Croatian National Priorities

• What can be expected from the European Plan for Cardiovascular Disease, and how will it be implemented in Croatia?
• Has Croatia adopted a National Cardiovascular Plan, with measurable 2030 targets and clearly defined implementation leads?
• Is the National Cardiovascular Disease Registry operational, and how is it being used to inform health policy?

09:50 – 10:00

Keynote:

“Croatia Health Profile“ – OECD, European Observatory on Health Systems and Policies and European Commission

10:00 – 10:40

Panel discussion:

The New Anatomy of Healthcare: What Decisions Must We Make? How to Design a Healthcare System That Meets the Needs of Croatian Citizens? 

• Key levers of efficiency: prevention, priorities, and investment in measurable outcomes
  • A shift towards early diagnosis and timely access to care
  • What Croatia needs to do by 2030 to reduce chronic disease, lower mortality, and extend healthy life years
  • The role of the health system and healthcare professionals, alongside risk factors such as smoking, alcohol, obesity, and physical inactivity

10:40 – 10:50

COFFEE BREAK

SESSION 2. EU LEGISLATION AND THE EUROPEAN HEALTH UNION

10:50 – 11:00

Keynote:

EU Regulation in Practice – What Changes for Patients and System

11:00 – 11:40

Panel discussion:

Access to Innovative Therapies and Security of Supply. Can the EU and  the Croatian Healthcare System Deliver it all?

• EU regulation and investment: how to accelerate innovation and improve access to new therapies (1)
• Critical medicines and supply security: supply chain resilience and joint procurement (2)
• Bringing manufacturing back to Europe: how realistic is it, and what needs to change? (3)
• Critical Medicines Act (CMA): will it increase the availability of critical medicines? (4)
• “Made in Europe” generic medicines and unmet medical needs: where are the solutions? (5)

(1) EU pharmaceutical reform – Directive (COM/2023/192; EUR-Lex)
(2) European Commission – communication on medicine shortages
(3) European Commission – Critical Medicines Act
(4)European Commission – Critical Medicines Act (official page)
(5) European Commission – communication on medicine shortages

11:40 - 11:50

KEYNOTE

EU Wastewater Directive and the Supply of Medicines

11:50 – 12:30

Panel discussion:

EU Urban Wastewater Treatment Directive: Will Croatia Run Out of Medicines?

• Member States on alert over the Urban Wastewater Treatment Directive – could Europe face medicine shortages

• The price of the Directive: shortages or significantly more expensive medicines?

• Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR): will medicines in Croatia become dramatically more expensive?

• What is Croatia doing to seek changes to the provisions on “extended producer responsibility”?

• Could the implementation of the Urban Wastewater Treatment Directive (UWWTD) threaten the long-term sustainability of Croatia’s healthcare system?

12:30 – 13:00

Lunch and networking

SESSION 3: HEALTHCARE OF TOMORROW

13:00 – 13:10

Keynote:

Shaping Healthier Food Environments in Europe: The Role of Fiscal Policy

13:10 – 13:50

Panel discussion:

Fiscal Measures or Education: What Works Better in Changing Unhealthy Habits

• What does the Croatia Health Profile recommend when it comes to prevention and healthier lifestyles?
• What is the link between fiscal policy, public health, and the long-term cost of treatment?
• Can tax policy encourage healthier behavior, or are education and prevention more effective tools?
• How is Croatia approaching sugar taxation, and is there scope to direct revenues into public health education programs?

13:50 – 14:00

IN FOCUS:

Rare Diseases – Where Does Croatia Stand?

14:00 – 14:40

Panel discussion:

Does Croatia Need a Rare Diseases Action Plan?

• Where does Croatia stand in implementing the EU Rare Disease Action Plan (RARE 2030), is it connected to the European Reference Networks (ERNs), and which centers are involved?
• What is the status of Croatia’s national plan for rare diseases?
• How many patients with rare diseases in Croatia wait more than five years for a diagnosis?
• What concrete steps are needed to shorten the diagnostic journey?

14:40 – 14:50

CASE STUDY:

 Next-Generation Hospital Healthcare

14:50 - 15:30 

PANEL DISCUSSION: 

Hospitals of the Future

• Should Croatia reconsider how its hospital system is organized and how healthcare budgets are allocated?
• Why are Croatian hospitals structurally operating in deficit and is a reorganization of hospitals and the hospital system necessary?
• Could a strategically designed long-term care system, as suggested in the Croatia Health Profile, ease pressure on hospitals and help reduce healthcare costs?

15:30 – 15:40

Coffee break

SESSION 4: DIGITAL CHALLENGES AND MONITORING TREATMENT OUTCOMES

15:40 – 15:50

KEYNOTE:

Why Measuring Treatment Outcomes Matters

15:50 – 16:30

Panel discussion:

Outcomes and Data-Driven Healthcare

• How can treatment outcomes become a real measure of health system performance?
• Why do health outcomes in Croatia remain insufficiently improved despite investment and access to high-cost therapies?
• Can AI, digitalization, and analytics help reduce complications and improve patients’ quality of life?
• Is Croatia still lacking a national digital health strategy that includes registries, interoperability, and analytics?

SESSION 5. HEALTH – COST OR INVESTMENT

16:30 – 16:40

KEYNOTE:

Challenges of Financial Sustainability in the Healthcare System

16:40 – 17:10

PANEL DISCUSSION:

Croatian Healthcare Without Debt - Myth or Reality

• Financial sustainability of the healthcare system – can the Croatian health system become debt-free?
• Health financing reform: shifting from monthly budget caps to performance- and outcomes-based payment models
• Digitalization as a tool for improving efficiency, controlling costs, and strengthening collaboration between the public and private healthcare sectors
• Why do hospitals operate in deficit and is the system in need of reorganization?
• Prevention as a fiscal tool – is health truly treated as an investment rather than a cost in policy practice?
• EU Multiannual Financial Framework 2028–2034: healthcare funding priorities and Croatia’s positioning in the negotiations

17:10 – 17:15

Conclusions and closing remarks

17:15 – 18:00

Afterwork networking