The time for experiments with the health of Bulgarian citizens is over. Minister Ivkova is not doing well and it is right for her to vacate her post.
Yesterday's meeting of the Health Committee once again showed that the Minister of Health does not have an adequate answer to any of the main questions. And the proposed “reform“ in healthcare is actually a series of changes with controversial goals and unconvincing arguments on how they will be achieved.
This was published on their Facebook page by "Continuing the change". Here is more from the party's statement:
What are the proposed changes, loudly called "reforms"? To save money - how much, at what cost to people's health and is it worth it? Or to improve the health of Bulgarians - how exactly will this be done with these changes? There are no arguments, but on the contrary, new problems are being created.
There is no answer to the risks and ambiguities surrounding the replacement of regional health inspectorates with regional structures under the Ministry of Health.
It remains unclear how Minister Ivkova will fulfill the commitment she made at the beginning of her mandate to increase the salaries of young doctors and nurses. Otherwise, the requests to deal with the staffing crisis are great.
There is no explanation for the serious discrepancies between the Ministry of Health's promise of more prophylaxis and prevention with 5.5 times more funds for hospital treatment in the NHIF budget.
Will you be calm if people with secondary education recommend medicines to you at the pharmacy? This will happen if the Ministry of Health removes the requirement for higher education for assistant pharmacists and replaces it with secondary specialized education.
And these are just some of the worrying examples.
Bulgaria cannot afford incompetent leadership of the Ministry of Health, which risks "finishing off" the already dilapidated health system - with all the consequences for patients and medics.
And it certainly deserves a better health minister.