ASIEH NAMDAR, CNN ANCHOR: It's been nearly a year since Croatian President Franjo Tudjman died. The country's new leaders say they are struggling to solve the economic problems he left behind. The government has cut the budget of many agencies, including its health care facilities. Croatia's HRT reports the spending cuts come at a time when many hospitals are already short of space and medicine.</s>UNIDENTIFIED HRT CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Croatian</s>UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (through translator): This is very hard for us. During 13 months in such a space, he had 14 chemotherapies, and now he is waiting for a bone marrow transplantation.</s>UNIDENTIFIED HRT CORRESPONDENT: "The hospital staff are doing their best working in such conditions," says this parent. But his eyes tell much more. However, in order to secure a larger space for the little patients, one of the neighboring sections for the hospital would have to be reduced. But the number of patients is growing in all the sections. This is just the biggest problem, but it isn't the only one.</s>DR. MLADEN CEPULIC, ONCOLOGIST: So far, we manage to get all the necessary medicines, but there is a possibility that we won't be able to do so in the future, which will significantly lower the survival rate.</s>UNIDENTIFIED HRT CORRESPONDENT: The new democratic Croatian government can't easily solve huge financial problems left by Franjo Tudjman's nationalist regime, which spent money building a monumental stadium for president's favorite soccer club rather than helping the ones who really need it. However, seven out of 10 children admitted for the treatment are cured, perhaps this fact could afford the responsible institutions to do something for these children -- it's the least they deserve. This is Vjerdan Mushuas (ph), Croatian Television, for CNN WORLD REPORT.
Croatian Government Cuts Spending For Health Care Facilities