ABSTRACT
In this chapter, we have provided an overview of the health systems and health cooperatives development over time, focusing on Eastern European countries such as Serbia, Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Slovenia, Poland, and Romania. It highlights the long-standing presence of family cooperatives dating back to centuries in the former Yugoslav states, which were subsequently redefined according to the modern cooperative concept inspired by the Rochdale Pioneers. Serbia, in particular, demonstrated rapid progress in alignment with the international cooperative movement. It pioneered the establishment of third-world modern agricultural cooperatives and witnessed the early development of modern health cooperatives in the late 19th century. Subsequently, this cooperative health model was adopted by the states comprising the Kingdom of Yugoslavia, and it was introduced to numerous countries worldwide during the 1920s and 1930s, including Romania and Poland.
