The time when Bulgarian citizens could be subjected to management experiments has definitively come to an end. With this message, the chairman of the "We Continue the Change" parliamentary group, Nikolay Denkov, issued a sharp appeal on the Facebook social network, insisting that Minister of Health Katya Ivkova resign immediately due to a systemic failure to fulfill her responsibilities.
The motive for this reaction was yesterday's meeting of the parliamentary Committee on Health. Nikolay Denkov notes that during the discussions, it became clear that the Ministry of Health lacks specific and adequate solutions to any of the fundamental issues. Regarding the "reform" proposed by the ministry, he emphasizes that it represents a series of actions with questionable goals and entirely unconvincing arguments regarding the methods for their implementation.
Denkov draws public attention to several fundamental questions that have remained without a clear answer:
- Whether the loudly proclaimed "reforms" are aimed at actually improving the health of Bulgarian citizens or are solely intended to save budget funds.
- What are the real risks and uncertainties regarding the upcoming replacement of regional health inspectorates with new regional structures directly subordinate to the Ministry of Health.
- How Minister Ivkova intends to fulfill the commitment made at the beginning of her term to increase the remuneration of young doctors and medical residents.
- How to explain the striking discrepancies between the stated focus on prophylaxis and prevention and the 5.5-fold increase in funding for hospital treatment provided for in the NHIF budget.
Apart from this, the chairman of the "We Continue the Change" parliamentary group described as particularly alarming the ministry's intention to remove the higher education requirement for pharmacy technicians, replacing it with secondary vocational education. In conclusion, Denkov states that our country cannot afford incompetent management of the healthcare sector, which risks "finishing off" an already distressed system, thereby placing both patients and medical professionals in serious danger.