site.btaUPDATED President Joins Doctor of the Year 2023 Award Ceremony

Addressing the Doctor of the Year award ceremony at the National Museum of History on Thursday, President Rumen Radev said that the young physicians should be at the centre of any reform in the health care sector. 

“The focus of any health care reform should be young Bulgarian doctors: their working conditions, motivation, social prestige, career development,” Radev noted. The President expressed hope that the reforms will be based on clear principles and goals, there will be optimal healthcare coverage for citizens, new technology will be introduced and greater accessibility will be ensured. “I hope that everything set out in the Recovery and Resilience Plan will be implemented regardless of the executive power,” he added.

He said that the plan envisages emergency air medical service, the establishment of stroke centres, a proton therapy centre, a national digital diagnostic imaging platform, and a project for ambulatory centres in smaller settlements.

Radev noted that Bulgaria has witnessed a number of reforms in the last 20 years, but some of them have proven inefficient. According to him, health care financing and its distribution among the various parties involved were at the forefront. Bulgaria lost many doctors, who in search of better working conditions and professional realization have chosen to leave the country and seek career development abroad, he said, adding that it is a huge loss of national capital.

The President expressed his appreciation to all the people who have devoted their lives to the profession. According to him, every person in Bulgaria can name their Doctor of the Year. He said that the medical profession is special in that doctors manage to integrate the rapid development of medicine and introduction of new technologies into their everyday work. “Patients expect expertise and knowledge, humaneness, understanding and compassion, as well as healthcare with emphasis on prevention and health promotion,” he added.

Radev presented the awards for Bulgaria’s young medical hopefuls to doctors Mladen Doykov, Svetozar Marangozov, Yavor Pukalski, Tsanko Yotsov, and Niya Mileva. “You can cure people anywhere in the world, but when you cure people here, where your roots are, your work has much more added value,” the President addressed the award winners.