UČESTALOST PUŠENJA U HRVATSKOJ – KAKO RIJEŠITI PROBLEM?

Tobacco use is the leading preventable cause of death, which is why a number of measures to reduce its use are carried out in the world. The purpose of this paper is to highlight the indicators related to the use of tobacco products in Croatia, as well as possible solutions within the framework of existing and proposed policies against tobacco. We have used data collected in the EU countries in 2016, according to which the prevalence of smoking in Croatia is among the highest in Europe. In order to reduce the prevalence of smoking and improve the health of its population, Croatia needs to strengthen and adopt additional policies on tobacco control.Uživanje duhana vodeći je preventabilni uzrok smrtnosti zbog čega se u svijetu provode brojne mjere kako bi se smanjila njegova uporaba. Stoga je cilj ovoga rada prikazati pokazatelje vezane za korištenje duhanskih proizvoda u Hrvatskoj kao i moguća rješenja u okviru postojećih i predloženih protuduhanskih politika. U prikazu su korišteni odabrani podatci ankete provedene u zemljama Europske unije 2016. godine prema kojoj je učestalost pušenja u Hrvatskoj među najvišima u Europi. Kako bi smanjila učestalost pušenja i unaprijedila zdravlje svoga stanovništva Hrvatska treba ojačati postojeće i usvojiti dodatne politike o kontroli duhana

Mediji i zdravlje „Anđeo i vrag“

All media have been flooded with news related to the COVID-19 pandemic. Top scientists have been addressing the public more frequently than ever before. In addition to positive attitudes, there have also been negative ones. In the midst of the pandemic, information about health systems that cannot respond adequately, a large number of deaths, and the lack of vaccines provoked a number of unwanted reactions, such as fear and associated disorders. Bad news kept coming. They were followed by conspiracy theories. Certain groups set out to find information they wanted to accept as true on various social networks. Should the media be allowed to inform about health without check, should they be allowed to pass on “fake news” in the domain of illness and health, or even manipulate information? They shouldn’t? In order to minimize the negative impacts, there should be mutual responsibility of experts and the media in presenting health-related topics and in disseminating useful and credible information, whereby the media literacy of the end users is indispensable.Sve medije preplavile su vijesti vezane za COVID-19 pandemiju. Kao nikada do sada javnosti su se obratili vrhunski znanstvenici. Uz pozitivne stavove javili su se i negativni. Informacije o zdravstvenim sustavima koji ne mogu dati odgovarajući odgovor, veliki broj umrlih, nepostojanje cjepiva pobudili su niz neželjenih odgovora, kao što je strah i posljedični poremećaji. Loše vijesti su se nizale. Pratile su ih teorije zavjere. Određene grupe na društvenim mrežama krenule su za pronalaženjem informacija koje žele prihvatiti istinitima. Smiju li mediji prezentirati o zdravlju bez provjera, smiju li propustiti „lažne vijesti“ u području bolesti i zdravlja, smiju li manipulirati informacijama? Ne bi smjeli?! No, kako bi minimalizirali negativne utjecaje, obostrana je odgovornost stručnjaka i medija u iznošenju tema vezanih uz zdravlje, praćena neizostavnom medijskom pismenosti krajnjih korisnika

WOULD PATIENTS WANT TO BE INFORMED AND PARTICIPATE IN MEDICAL DECISION?

U 20. stoljeću nastale su velike promjene u odnosu pacijent-liječnik. Suvremeni zdravstveni sustavi nezamislivi su bez postojanja zakona o zaštiti prava pacijenata. Iako je danas u trendu isticanje prava pacijenata i njihovog sudjelovanja u donošenju odluka, postoje istraživanja koja donose suprotne zaključke. Činjenica da neki pacijenti nisu spremni sudjelovati u donošenju odluka o svom zdravlju ne znači da liječnici trebaju prema njima imati paternalistički stav.Significant changes in the patient-physician relationship occurred during the 20th century. Modern health systems are inconceivable without the existence of laws on the protection of patient rights. Although the present trend emphasizes the rights of patients and their participation in decision-making, there are studies that report conflicting conclusions. The fact that some patients are not willing to participate in decisions about their health does not mean that physicians should have a paternalistic attitude toward them

CORRUPTION AND HEALTH CARE SYSTEM

Korupcija je globalni problem, a posebno mjesto zauzima u zdravstvenom sustavu. Velik broj sudionika u zdravstvenom sustavu te brojne njihove interakcije omogućuju različite oblike korupcije bilo da se radi o podmićivanju, krađi, birokratskoj korupciji ili pogrešnom informiranju. Mjeriti korupciju u medicini je teško no ipak postoje alati kojima se to radi što omogućava oblikovanje okvira za moguće intervencije.Corruption is a global problem that takes special place in health care system. A large number of participants in the health care system and numerous interactions among them provide an opportunity for various forms of corruption, be it bribery, theft, bureaucratic corruption or incorrect information. Even though it is difficult to measure the amount of corruption in medicine, there are tools that allow forming of the frames for possible interventions

Drug Related Deaths in the Split-Dalmatia County 1997–2007

Drug overdoses are a major cause of mortality for drug users and, in many countries, are the leading cause of death in this group. The aim of the present study is to explore the frequency of all drug related deaths in the Split-Dalmatia County in the period between 1997 and 2007 and to analyze some of the characteristics of these deaths to help target preventive policies. The data on drug related deaths were collected using records from the Department of Forensic Medicine, Clinical Hospital Centre Split, University of Split, School of Medicine. There were 190 drug related deaths in the observed period of 11 years. Statistically significant difference (p=0.004, c2-test for trend) was found in the number of deaths in 1997 in comparison with the number of deaths in 2007. The majority of 105 (55%) the decedents were 25–34 years old, and 92.1% (175) of them were male. There was a 94% higher probability of mortality in the 25–34 years group (c2=5.55, p=0.064). Average age of all dead people was 31.01±7.59 years (median 31.0 years; range 18–49). Almost three quarters of the decedents were single and more than three fifths hadn’t been employed. The most common location of death was at home. Approximately, 80% were autopsied followed by full histological and toxicological analyses. Out of all examined cases, the majority of drug related deaths (93 or 60.8%) were attributed to heroin. Heroin was the sole cause of death in 35 (22.9%) cases. Methadone was cause of death in 24 (15.7%) cases. 3.4-methylenedioxy-methamphetamine (MDMA) deaths were rare (3.3%). Cocaine deaths were also rare (1.3%). Three fifths (55.6%) of the cases involved includes multi-substance use. During the investigation there was an evident trend towards multi-substance abuse patterns. These data suggest that interventions to prevent drug related mortality should address the use of drugs such as heroin and alcohol in combination

ChatGPT – a potential opportunity to improve health literacy

Prema provedenim istraživanjima ChatGPT predstavlja priliku za poboljšanje zdravstvene pismenosti generiranjem dostupnih i razumljivih informacija o zdravlju. Također, pokazano je da može poboljšati čitljivost i dostupnost javnih obrazovnih materijala odabranih zdravstvenih tema. Nadalje, iako modeli umjetne inteligencije poput ChatGPT-a mogu poslužiti kao pouzdan izvor zdravstvenih informacija, trebali bi se koristiti uz stručno medicinsko savjetovanje.According to the conducted research, ChatGPT represents an opportunity to improve health literacy by generating accessible and comprehensible information about health. It has also been shown to improve the readability and accessibility of public education materials on selected health topics. Furthermore, while AI models like ChatGPT can serve as a reliable source of health information, they should be used as an addition to professional medical consultation, and not as a standalone advice servic