site.btaGovernment Talks: Healthcare and Agriculture

November 24 (BTA) - Wednesday is the second day of talks towards the formation of a coalition government initiated by Continue the Change (CC). Wednesday's negotiations are on the topics of healthcare and agriculture. The discussions are broadcast live on Continue the Change's Facebook page, YouTube channel and on promeni.bg.

CC's co-chair Assen Vassilev moderates the discussion on healthcare.

Georgi Mihailov of the negotiation team from the Bulgarian Socialist Party (BSP) was adamant that the party will make no concessions on its view that hospitals should not be business entities.

Mihailov also said that the future government should have short-term measures and strategic measures to be implemented within its four-year term in office.

A short-term measure should be setting up mobile vaccination teams. As medium-term measures the BSP suggests adequate financial provisions for hospitals in remote areas and making them protected hospitals, reducing VAT on medicines to 9 per cent, providing free medicines to children up to 14 years of age, and increasing the funding for the prevention and control of socially significant diseases.

The strategic measures proposed by the BSP are aimed at solving the problems pertaining to the running and financing of the healthcare system and the acute shortage of staff in it. The BSP suggests the provision of target grants by the government for training abroad in medical specializations that are in short supply and binding the grants with mandatory work in Bulgaria.

Andrei Chorbanov from There Is Such a People (TISP) said that the party too suggests doing away with the commercial status of hospitals and doing away with clinical pathways. A new bill on medical establishments should be passed that creates an entity called a public medical treatment facility which could operated with money from the National Health Insurance Fund and the Health Ministry without generating profits.

TISP also suggests having dedicated covid hospitals. The party also noted the need for urgent training of infections experts and for the  creation of a task force of virologists and other experts to come up with messages and advice to the public.

TISP also suggests closing the Medical Supervision Executive Agency and replacing it with an agency for medical audit, control and accreditation whose management should be elected by Parliament. Also, senior positions in hospitals should have terms in office.

Dr Alexander Simidchiev from Democratic Bulgaria urged for provision of enough staff for the healthcare system, streamlining of costs, effective control with regional units, phased doing away with clinical pathways, and the introduction of diagnostic-related groups. Simidchiev argued that the clinical pathways should not be a financing mechanism which they have become but a mechanism to control quality.

CC's co-chair Kiril Petkov moderates the discussion on agriculture.

Democratic Bulgaria's Albena Simeonova, who chairs the Bio-products Bulgarian Association, said that the growing of vegetables and fruits in Bulgaria, and greenhouse farming are disappearing and must be saved.

The biggest problem is farmland use and tenancy as more than 80 per cent of the direct payments in agriculture in this country go in the hands of less than two per cent of farmland users.

Simeonova also said that the EU Green Deal gives precedence to health foods. She urged for ensuring that Bulgarian foods, honey, and wines find their place on the Bulgarian market. Stressing the importance of experts of farm produce, she said that specialized programmes are to be developed, in particular in the bee-keeping sector, where environmentally friendly subsidies to pollination should be provided.

Gergana Kabaivanova, also from Democratic Bulgaria, spoke in favour of the introduction of European rules on market access which in Bulgaria are not applied. The process should proceed with the active involvement of the local powers, while better communication between small and big producers should be achieved, so that they share resources and opportunities. Regional centres are to be set up for this purpose.

Toma Belev, also from Democratic Bulgaria, spoke of the need to have a dedicated authority on forests which should have the status of a state agency, instead of the current status of executive agency, so that it can set out policies.

The experts from the BSP taking part in the agriculture panel said that the key task is to change the model of how farming is run.

BSP's Stefan Bourdjev urged for putting a stop on the depopulation of entire regions in the country, and on the decline and decay of villages and small population centres.

Momchil Nekov, also of the BSP, raised the issue of the imports of fake honey from China and reminded about the efforts to protect Bulgarian products with dedicated campaigns. However, he said, the producers themselves should unite and stand up for their interests.

The BSP participants in the talks also urged for ensuring access of agricultural producers to water and land. Another issue is the control of pesticide use, given that Europe is fast moving to precision farming, which Bulgaria should take advantage of. RY/ZH//

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