Innovation has become a necessity in order to overcome some challenging times in the rapid changing world. The world’s paradigm is shifting towards sustainable development and shared values. Even though numerous benefits of innovating the public sector (PS) have been recognised worldwide, the concept of public sector innovation (PSI) is still new for Bosnia and Herzegovina. The complex and stratified structure of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina (FBiH) and its PS has been forever standing in the way of any larger progress. The purpose of this paper is to contribute to the development of PSI in FBiH as an opportunity to enhance the performance of public services, increase their efficiency, and decrease the costs. The research was completed by using a mixed-method approach in order to analyse the concept of innovation in the PS. The primary data was collected through semi-structured interviews with the management and a survey with close-ended questions which was completed by the employees of the public sector institutions in FBiH. The method of structural equation modelling was used in order to test the research hypotheses. A part of this paper is analysing the main PSI drivers and challenges. The results show that the main obstacles to PSI are the institutional system and the regulations in the FBiH. On the other side, the manager and employees are considered the largest drivers of public sector innovation in FBiH. The paper concludes with several recommendations on how to overcome the main barriers of public sector innovation in FBiH. Keywords: Innovation management, R&D, Innovation incentives, e-Government, Institutional culture. JEL: O38, O32, O31, H11, H41

Introduction: Chronic osteomyelitis (COM) is a severely debilitating disease, causing both physical and psychological repercussions for patients. It is particularly common in austere environments and areas of armed conflict. 1,2,3 The most common cause across all age groups is neglected penetrating wounds.4 Often overlooked, COM is one of the many lasting health effects of warfare. Deep infections of the bone following penetrating and blast injuries are common in regions plagued by conflict and cause major physical and social disability. Materials & Methods: Patient records at the University of Sarajevo Clinical Center Department of Orthopedics & Traumatology were analyzed retrospectively between 2003 and 2013 of patients hospitalized with diagnosed COM. Results: 155 patients were hospitalized at UCCS for the treatment of chronic osteomyelitis between 2003-2013. Mean age of patients at the time of hospitalization was 56 years. The most common medical comorbidity of patients was diabetes mellitus type 2. Unemployment among patients was 46.1%. The most common cause of COM in this cohort was intentional injury associated with the war between the years of 1992-1995 (46.2%). These were caused by sniper or gunshot wounds (25.4%), landmines or unexploded ordnance (37.7%), and mortar shell explosions (28.8%). The mean hospital stay among patients with COM at UCCS was 31.10 days, although this varied widely depending upon the severity of symptoms and the type of treatment required. Conclusion: The health burden of chronic osteomyelitis persists for many years beyond the original. Chronic pain and disability contribute to a lifetime of repeated treatments, hospital stays, and high rates of unemployment. This study describes the current burden of COM upon the population of Sarajevo, as well as serving as a foreboding prediction of what can be expected in war zones for many years in the future. Keywords: Bosnia-Herzegovina, Sarajevo, chronic osteomyelitis, war injuries, orthopedics, infectious disease, social medicine.

The aim of the paper was to analyze tourist participation in animation programs during daily recreational activities within package tours which included apartment accommodation in Greece, i.e. whether there are differences between male and female participation rate in certain activities. Indirectly, based on the obtained results, it is necessary to establish whether animation programs should be conducted jointly and/or they should be planned and conducted separately for men and women. Another aim was to determine whether any differences occurred in animation programs during multiannual monitoring.

Background/Aim. The protective effect of periconceptional folic acid supplementation in reducing the risk of neural tube defects (NTDs) and other adverse pregnancy outcomes has been scientifically confirmed. The present study aimed to assess knowledge, attitudes, and practice (KAP) of community pharmacists and pharmacy technicians with regards to counselling women of reproductive age on adequate folate intake. Methods. The cross-sectional study was conducted among the nationwide stratified sample of pharmacists and pharmacy technicians, practicing in both private and state-owned community pharmacies in Serbia. The detailed literature review, expert consultation and pre-testing were employed in the questionnaire development. The descriptive and inferential statistical analyses were performed using the SPSS software ver. 22. Results. Among 730 survey participants, 96.6% correctly identified types of deformities that could be prevented by folic acid and 77.0% recognized recommended dosage for women capable of becoming pregnant. However, fewer were able to recognize the optimal timing for folic acid supplementation (61.1%) and the proper dose for the NTD recurrence prevention (42.9 %). While 43.2% of pharmacy technicians thought that it was not their responsibility to provide a counselling concerning the measures for the prevention of congenital anomalies, only 4.7% of licensed pharmacists and none of the interns were of that opinion (?2 = 198.287; df = 4; p < 0.001). The majority of respondents (54.7%) reported provision of informative consultation concerning folic acid once a week, or few times a month, while only 10 stated to do so on a daily basis. In addition, based on self-report, only 36.7% of participants communicates information and advice regarding adequate folate status at their own initiative, while the rest addresses this topic only on the patients request, i.e., reactively. Conclusion. Although participants acknowledged the importance of their role in preconception health promotion, our findings revealed certain knowledge gaps as well as dominantly reactive counselling practice. Tailored educational interventions and professional support are needed to improve the engagement of community pharmacy personnel in this area of public health.