Pandemic management – disrespect for the law, courage of doctors and confusion among citizens

During the discussion, it was pointed out that due to the bad situation in the health system, insufficiently specialized doctors and lack of health equipment, as well as bad reactions of the authorities, our country is at the very top of those whose deaths have increased many times over the ten-year average. The current laws have not been, nor are they still respected, the state of emergency has been abused, and the pandemic has not been managed systematically.

“We welcomed the pandemic with a health system with very low capacities – infrastructure, the number of hospital beds and equipment are insufficient and outdated, the number of employees is insufficient. The Ministry of Health did not coordinate, redistribute and organize even those scarce capacities adequately. Doctors are still waiting for the burden, due to the post-covid consequences and all patients who failed to receive adequate care during the pandemic, ” said Rade Panić from the Union of Doctors and Pharmacists of Serbia.

The analysis done by the BCSP and the Union of Doctors and Pharmacists of Serbia demonstrated shortcomings within the primary aspect of pandemic management. In practice, we have had a situation where a pandemic is managed by bodies that do not have the authority to do so, while the work of institutions that are legally competent to act in crisis situations like this is marginalized.

“The Crisis Staff was not formally formed until October 2020, by the decision of the Government – its work was not legal until then. The Republic Expert Commission on Infectious Diseases is a permanent body composed of experts, which has the authority to manage the pandemic, while the Crisis Staff is an ad hoc body. Dualism of form implies overlapping competencies, when an ad hoc body such as the Crisis Staff “steals” competencies from a legally prescribed body – the Republic Expert Commission,” said Milja Dimitrijević from the Union of Doctors and Pharmacists of Serbia.

During the roundtable, it was emphasized that the disrespect of the legal framework that defines the actions of institutions during the pandemic has led to the voice of the profession being marginalized, and citizens confused and left to fend for themselves.

“The role of the Republic Expert Commission has been marginalized and suppressed in favor of the government’s Crisis Staff, although the law clearly prescribes that it is the one responsible for managing the pandemic. This meant marginalizing the voice of the profession. The citizens were left in the lurch even before the beginning of the pandemic, we were not prepared for it and there was organizational chaos, the system was collapsing. Only thanks to the extraordinary efforts of health workers, there was no complete chaos,” said epidemiologist Zoran Radovanović.

Communication about the course of the pandemic was not at a satisfactory level – double messages were sent – from spreading panic to declaring victory over the pandemic, which contributed to justifying further capture of the state. This caused confusion among the citizens, which was marked by fear, anxiety and general insecurity, and even disbelief that the virus and the pandemic even exist.

“Although that percentage is significantly lower than in previous surveys, as many as a fifth of Serbian citizens still do not believe in the existence of a pandemic.” One of the reasons for that are the contradictory narratives that accompanied the fight against the pandemic “, pointed out the senior researcher of the BCSP, Srdjan Hercigonja.

The analysis of the narrative about the pandemic presented by the BCSP during the round table demonstrated that there was a narrative in Serbia about the war at the beginning of the pandemic, which was replaced by silence from the second half of 2021. It was pointed out that the narrative about the war enabled the President of the Republic or the Prime Minister to make and announce the most important decisions regarding this “war”, while experts and experts were placed on the margins in the decision-making process.

The event was organized within the project “Pandemic Management – Lessons Learned for a Safer Future”, which is implemented within the project of the Belgrade Open School “Dialogue for Change”, with the financial support of the European Union. The organization of the event was also financially supported by the National Endowment for Democracy (NED). The content does not necessarily reflect the views of donors or the Belgrade Open School, and the Belgrade Centre for Security Policy is solely responsible for it.

From 2000 until today, the European Union has donated more than 3.6 billion euros to Serbia. The funds were used to support development, quality of life and reforms in the following areas: civil protection, flood protection and flood protection, education, connectivity, environmental protection, health and consumer protection, culture, rule of law, local development, jobs and economic growth, public administration, migration, public funding management, civil society and media, social inclusion, youth and sport. EU support was implemented through cooperation with the Government of the Republic of Serbia. The European Union has donated more development funds to Serbia than all other international donors combined.