HelathComm Forum 2025 Conclusions

The third edition of the HealthComm Forum—the first and so far only health conference in the region under the patronage of the European Parliament and the Ministry of Health of the Republic of Croatia—concluded with powerful messages about the urgent need to transform the healthcare system from one that treats disease to one that protects health.

The Forum brought together more than four hundred decision-makers, renowned professionals, representatives from the IT sector, and other stakeholders from Croatia, the region, and around the world. All participants agreed that the three key thematic areas of the conference—shifting the paradigm and understanding health as a national resource, multisectoral cooperation, and decision-making aimed at increasing the number of healthy life years for citizens—are essential for a sustainable healthcare system of the future.

Nearly 60 panelists and speakers—including Minister of Health Irena Hrstić, Prof. Sanja Musić Milanović, Prof. Søren Brunak from the University of Copenhagen, Sarah Abitbol from EUPHA, WHO advisor Damir Ivanković, Zofia Das-Gupta from ICHOM, Members of the European Parliament Romana Jerković and Tomislav Sokol, Prof. Ivan Đikić from J. W. Goethe University, OECD advisor Niek Klazinga, and Prof. Branko Gabrovec from the Slovenian National Institute of Public Health—sent a unified message that prevention is not merely a public health option, but a long-term economic strategy.

The central message of the discussion with Minister of Health, Asst. Prof. Irena Hrstić, titled "The New Face of Health: At the Crossroads of Trust and Sustainability," was clear: “It is time to change the paradigm—the goal is no longer just to treat disease, but to prevent it from occurring in the first place.” Leading public health expert and architect of the “Healthy Living” program, Prof. Sanja Musić Milanović, delivered an equally powerful message: “Health must be the starting point of all policies—embedded in every strategic document.”

For this very reason, the conference will result in a document providing guidelines and tools for all those who want to be part of the shift in approach to health in the years to come.