PM Denkov: Political games with health budget are dangerous

Political games with the health budget are dangerous, Prime Minister Nikolay Denkov said at the beginning of the government meeting on Wednesday.

The non-acceptance of the National Health Insurance Fund's (NHIF) plan-account at a committee meeting on Tuesday is a blow to both doctors and patients, according to Denkov. 

The healthcare budget is at a record high - more than BGN 1.1 billion more, reaching over BGN 8 billion a year. More than BGN 3 billion is earmarked for hospitals, including 60 million extra to prepare medical institutions for emergencies, accidents, and catastrophes, the Prime Minister added. 

Denkov stressed that the priorities are to strengthen prevention as well as early diagnosis of chronic, malignant and socially significant diseases. "New programmes for prevention and early detection of diseases are being developed. There is funding for all this in the budget," he assured. 

The Prime Minister also reaffirmed the commitment made by the state to increase the salaries of medical workers, to improve the working conditions of young specialists, and to seek a solution to the problem of the growing average age of doctors.

"Another priority is to shed light on the processes in hospital management. The Minister of Health should mobilise his control units - the internal audit unit, the inspectorate and the Executive Agency "Medical Supervision" - to carry out the relevant control. (...) Our goal is a deep reform of healthcare, which will put an end to the known problems," the Prime Minister said.