The project, called "72 Hours", was announced by Health Minister Sinisa Varga in an HRT prime-time news programme on Friday evening, saying that 72 hours will be the maximum time between diagnosis and the start of surgical, radiotherapeutic or chemotherapeutic treatment.
The purpose of the project is to ensure that patients with malignant diseases receive therapy as soon as possible and avoid additional stress due to waiting.
The new model will first be applied by the Sisters of Mercy Clinical Hospital Centre in Zagreb and is to be adopted by all clinical hospitals in the country by the end of the year.
The average time for the start of treatment of cancer patients in Europe is 28 days, and Croatia has the necessary capacity and staff to start treatment much sooner, a Sisters of Mercy Hospital official told HRT.