Siniša Varga (born 24 August 1965) is a Croatian dentist and politician who served as

Minister of Health A health minister is the member of a country's government typically responsible for protecting and promoting public health and providing welfare and other social security services. Some governments have separate ministers for mental health. Coun ...

in the centre-left

Cabinet of Zoran Milanović The Twelfth Government of the Republic of Croatia ( hr, Dvanaesta Vlada Republike Hrvatske) was the Croatian Government cabinet led by Prime Minister Zoran Milanović. It was in office from 23 December 2011 until 22 January 2016. It was formed f ...

from 2014 until 2016.

Early life

Varga was born on August 24, 1965, in

Zagreb Zagreb ( , , , ) is the capital (political), capital and List of cities and towns in Croatia#List of cities and towns, largest city of Croatia. It is in the Northern Croatia, northwest of the country, along the Sava river, at the southern slop ...

. He graduated in 1990 at the Faculty of Dentistry,

University of Zagreb The University of Zagreb ( hr, Sveučilište u Zagrebu, ; la, Universitas Studiorum Zagrabiensis) is the largest Croatian university and the oldest continuously operating university in the area covering Central Europe south of Vienna and all of ...

Dentist

From 1993 to 1997 he specialized in

prosthodontics Prosthodontics, also known as dental prosthetics or prosthetic dentistry, is the area of dentistry that focuses on dental prostheses. It is one of 12 dental specialties recognized by the American Dental Association (ADA), Royal College of Surge ...

at the Dental Clinic of the

Clinical Hospital Centre Zagreb The University Hospital Centre (sometimes also Clinical Hospital Centre, hr, Klinički bolnički centar Zagreb, KBC) in Zagreb, Croatia, is the largest hospital in Croatia and the teaching hospital of the University of Zagreb. It serves most of Ce ...

. As part of his specialized practice in 1995 he worked in Gothenburg (Sweden) at Branemark Implantology Clinic. In 1997, as a specialist in dental prosthetics, he was head of the surgical prosthetics, Clinical Department of Oral Surgery, for surgery of the face and jaw, at University Hospital Dubrava. The center is the only one of its kind in Croatia. His special interest in general and health management earned him a degree of international quality systems manager for the International Standard

ISO 9001 The ISO 9000 family is a set of five quality management systems (QMS) standards that help organizations ensure they meet customer and other stakeholder needs within statutory and regulatory requirements related to a product or service. ISO 90 ...

: 2000 from the European Organization for Quality. From 2000 to 2002, he worked as a consultant for the

World Bank The World Bank is an international financial institution that provides loans and grants to the governments of low- and middle-income countries for the purpose of pursuing capital projects. The World Bank is the collective name for the Interna ...

project on

health care reform Health care reform is for the most part governmental policy that affects health care delivery in a given place. Health care reform typically attempts to: * Broaden the population that receives health care coverage through either public sector insur ...

in the Republic of Croatia. During this period he was an assistant director of the Clinical Hospital Dubrava. In 2004, Varga became responsible for the organization of the teaching module "Resource Management in Health Care", study "Leadership and Management of Health and Science" at the School of Public Health "Andrija Štampar" at University of Zagreb. In 2008 he became a consultant on a World Bank project to reform health care in

Bosnia and Herzegovina Bosnia and Herzegovina ( sh, / , ), abbreviated BiH () or B&H, sometimes called Bosnia–Herzegovina and often known informally as Bosnia, is a country at the crossroads of south and southeast Europe, located in the Balkans. Bosnia and H ...

. He is a member of the Croatian Dental Society,

Croatian Medical Association The Croatian Medical Association ( hr, Hrvatski liječnički zbor; abbreviation HLZ) is an organization of physicians and dentists in Croatia whose purpose is to improve professional and scientific work and the health protection of the population, t ...

, where he served as the Secretary-General for two four-year terms. He is a member of the Croatian Society of Volunteers of Croatian Homeland war for independence, the Croatian Society of Quality Managers and the Croatian Standards Institute in two technical committees: dentistry and quality management. Varga is a court expert for prosthodontics and a mentor for education of new experts.

Political career

From 2002 to 2004 he was an official of the Croatian Government in the Ministry of Health and Social Welfare, as the deputy minister of health for professional medical affairs. The government appointed Varga to a working group for preparation of negotiations for European Union accession in 2007. In 2010 Siniša Varga became a member of the Croatian Social Democratic Party. After directing the Croatian Institute for Health Insurance from April 2012 to June 2014, the government appointed him as Minister of Health.

Private life

Varga is married and has two children. He was a volunteer in

Croatian War of Independence The Croatian War of Independence was fought from 1991 to 1995 between Croat forces loyal to the Government of Croatia—which had declared independence from the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (SFRY)—and the Serb-controlled Yugosl ...

and holds a memorial of Homeland war. He speaks English and some French. He is an active member of the Rotary Club of Zagreb through which he supports humanitarian actions.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Varga, Sinisa 1965 births Croatian dentists Health ministers of Croatia Living people Politicians from Zagreb Social Democratic Party of Croatia politicians University of Zagreb alumni Representatives in the modern Croatian Parliament