MARIJA BISTRICA SHRINE MARIJA BISTRICA, Aug 14 (Hina) - Deputy Prime Minister Ante Simonic on Thursday visited Croatia's largest Marian shrine at Marija Bistrica, about 30km north of Zagreb, where he met representatives of the
Catholic Church for talks on the opening of a centre for spiritual medicine as part of the shrine complex.
MARIJA BISTRICA, Aug 14 (Hina) - Deputy Prime Minister Ante Simonic
on Thursday visited Croatia's largest Marian shrine at Marija
Bistrica, about 30km north of Zagreb, where he met representatives
of the Catholic Church for talks on the opening of a centre for
spiritual medicine as part of the shrine complex. #L#
Establishment of such centres is supported by the World Health
Organisation.
Simonic said that the reform of the health system could not deal
just with the financing of the health sector but should also focus
on mental health and disease prevention.
He recalled that more than 20 percent of all patients in Croatia
suffered from some sort of mental disorder, including drug-related
problems and post-traumatic stress disorder.
"All these people seek additional psychological and spiritual
assistance, so that opening a centre for spiritual medicine would
be more than welcome," Simonic said.
(hina) vm