Comment by Maya Alexandrova, "Unruly Bulgaria":
Our young doctors and medical students are going out to PROTEST today – and rightly so! Without health – there is no future. There is no economy, no development, no quality of life. Sick societies are weak.
Medics study for at least 10 years to specialize and must constantly qualify after that. With their work, they save our lives. What do they get in return? They save lives, and the state treats them like second-hand people. They work around the clock, under pressure, with miserable salaries and zero respect. I know this because my daughter is also a medical student and attends lectures during the day and works at night. They are the people who don't sleep when we sleep. They take on our pain, fear and suffering when we are most vulnerable and sick. They work in exhausting conditions, often on the verge of physical and mental exhaustion. There are not enough doctors and nurses.
And we wonder why they are leaving?
Entire regions are without adequate medical care. The government adopted an absurd budget, where it completely unfairly raised the salaries of some at the expense of freezing others. The transport blockade in Sofia led to an increase in the salaries of drivers in the motor transport sector after a unilateral decision by Boyko Borisov. This triggered the just dissatisfaction of young doctors and nurses, who turned out to be much lower paid. The same is the case with journalists, museum workers, librarians...
This is the “GERB“ model - social divisions and injustice! Because of Borisov, we are in last place in all socio-economic indicators in the European Union and have the lowest life expectancy.
We, as a society, must support our doctors in their disobedience for a more just and developed Bulgaria. So that there is an alternative and so that there are us.