Medical Expert: Unacceptable That Politicians are Imposing Solutions on Crisis Team

Dragan Delic (YouTube screenshot)

Dragan Delic, an infectious disease specialist and hepatologist, has said that it is unacceptable that politicians, acting as “aggressive ignorants”, are pushing allegedly expert opinions and decisions on the medical professionals within the Covid-19 Crisis Response Team.

“By doing so they are, among other things, belittling the knowledge and experience of those doctors, while promoting intellectual con artistry and an epidemic of ignorance,” Delic told the latest issue of the Nedeljnik weekly, published on Oct. 28.

According to him, the “messianic role of certain politicians, with dubious practical results, cannot compensate for professional incompetence.” Delic, who is a full professor at the Belgrade School of Medicine and the former director of the Clinic for Infectious and Tropical Diseases, is adamant that science must be respected.

“Instead of [uttering] empty words and sowing confusion, [we] should return within the parameters of science and the positive experiences of other countries – which should be articulated by a federal scientific commission for protection against infectious diseases,” Delic said.

He said that during the pandemic the main issue with the existence and operation of the Crisis Response Team was that the body is a “strange mix of science and politics”. “Last year, their decisions were the result of compromise between [medical experts] and politicians, while today their decisions are blatantly political and belittle scientific expertise,” Delic concluded.