The Bulgarian doctors will go out for a symbolic one-hour protest outside hospitals and clinics as an expression of solidarity with their colleagues from the European Union, on the Action day of European Doctors. Medics demand the allocation of sufficient funds to quality health services for all European citizens, ending repressions on doctors, decent pay, decent working conditions and combating corruption.

In an interview for Radio Bulgaria, the Deputy Chairman of the Bulgarian Doctors’ Union Dr. Yulian Yordanov said that doctors’ protests aim to focus attention on some pending issues in Bulgarian healthcare that have to do with its chronic financial deficit.

"It has been permanent over the past 6-7 years. When the budget of the National Health Insurance Fund (NHIF) for 2014 was voted we warned that it would generate a huge deficit. A hospital faced with scarce financial resources limits admission of patients to a minimum. We want European-styled healthcare and at the same time, financing of health per capita in Bulgaria is the lowest across the EU, not to mention the percentage of GDP. There is no way of organizing quality healthcare with little money. To achieve this goal financing should be similar to what other European countries spend. So far, things are stable owing to doctors and medical professionals who work in the system. They are most harmed by this underfunding, along with the patients. "

Because of the lack of an optimal working environment and the chronic underfunding of the system, doctors are forced to leave their jobs in search of better conditions. This is one of the reasons why Bulgarian doctors look for career opportunities in Europe and even overseas. Last year, the Bulgarian Doctors’ Union held a poll to survey the motivation of doctors to leave the country.

"The poll suggests that the main reasons are three", Dr. Yordanov says  about the poll . "The first one is related to specialization and career development, followed by remuneration with almost the same percentage and thirdly, the uncertainty in the Bulgarian healthcare.It turns out that the average age of doctors in Bulgaria is about 50-55 years. About 20 percent of them are in retirement age. Physicians between 35 and 45 are missing, and those up to 35 years are only 25 percent. In practice, in ten years an acute shortage of doctors will occur in Bulgaria.If migration intensifies the picture will be even more dramatic. So we should not close our eyes to this problem and the sooner we take action similar to European countries who hire foreign professionals including ones from Bulgaria, the better. Still I hope that society and the government will give attention to this threat and will take measures in time. I think that we are already a bit late, though,” concludes Dr. Yulian Yordanov, Deputy Chairman of the Bulgarian Doctors’ Union.

English version: Daniela Konstantinova