Bosnia and Herzegovina

Reform of the highly centralized former Yugoslavian health care system was complicated significantly by the war fought from 1992 - 1995: it lead to the destruction of some 30% of health infrastructure, and the emigration of up to a third of doctors. Since then, health care in Bosnia and Herzegovina has been decentralized, becoming the responsibility of individual cantons. This has struck upon a number of problems, according to a paper by the European Observatory on Health Care Systems, due to the limited communication between the cantons (resulting in limited opportunity for cost sharing) and the haste with which the scheme was implemented.

Before the war, Bosnia and Herzegovina had a thriving pharmaceutical industry with four large state-run companies. However, the confusion of war, and a poorly executed privatization project, has resulted in significant retrenchment within the sector. The country now relies largely on foreign imports although tariffs have been rising in recent years.