site.btaMedia Review: October 18

HEADLINES

Healthcare related topics and discussions on the termination of the Barcelonagate money laundering case dominate media outlets on Wednesday. 

Telegraph’s top story is on electronic sick leave notes excusing pupils for not attending classes in person. The headline reads that parents wait in hospitals two hours on average to get an electronic prescription. 

The morning programmes of the Bulgarian National Television (BNT), bTV, and Nova TV, have guests commenting on the now compulsory electronic prescription for certain drugs.  

24 Chasa’s top headline is about an annual initiative, organized by the daily, entitled “The Doctors We Trust”, where distinguished doctors are awarded for their efforts and achievements.

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The front pages 24 Chasa, Trud, and Duma feature the story on the termination of the Barcelonagate money laundering case by the Sofia City Prosecution Office on the grounds of lack of evidence. 

Тhe morning programme of bTV hosts former prosecutor and senior legal advisor of the Anti-Corruption Fund (AFC) Andrey Yankulov, who says that it is possible that the Barcelonagate case be initiated again.

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Trud’s top front-page headline is that the government has been lying to Bulgarians about working on lowering food prices. The subheading reads that the market cannot be regulated by law and that measures are only recommendations. 

Duma’s top story is about the Bulgarian Socialist Party (BSP) for Bulgaria organizing another no confidence vote against the government of Prime Minister Nikolay Denkov on the grounds of national security threats in relation to the developments in Israel.

The Bulgarian National Radio (BNR) hosted interviews with political scientist Ognyan Minchev on the war in Israel, Bulgarian Association of Software Companies (BASCOM) Board Chair Dobroslav Dimitrov on the possible increase of the social security threshold, and Road Safety Institute head Bogdan Milchev, who said Sofia is the most dangerous city for pedestrians in Europe. 

HEALTHCARE 

As of October 16, 2023, diabetes medications and antibiotics in Bulgaria are available only by electronic prescription, according to amendments to the Regulation of Medication Prescribing and Dispensing. The changes aim to prevent drug shortages, to tackle the problem of antimicrobial resistance, to achieve rational use of medicines, introduce the Health Ministry's policy on eHealth. 

Telegraph’s top story on electronic sick leave notes for students in primary and secondary education features an interview with Todor Kantardzhiev, former head of the National Centre for Infectious and Parasitic Diseases, who says that each electronic sick leave note takes ten minutes for the general practitioner to prepare. The daily also interviewed parents who shared that waiting hours on site in hospitals are very long, thus, they have launched an online petition to extend the parents’ right to excuse their children from school attendance for longer than three days. 

The article also touches upon the topic of the electronic drug prescription. Telegraph quotes Kostadin Sotirov, Member of the Governing Board of the National Association of General Practitioners in Bulgaria, who says that the introduction of electronic prescriptions and sick leave notes has revealed unregulated practices among doctors and patients. 

The morning show of BNT hosted the head of the Bulgarian Medical Association (BMA), Dr Ivan Madzharov. According to him, there had to be a period to test for problems before the paper prescription for antibiotics and medications for diabetic patients was completely substituted by the electronic one, and he stresses that the opinion of doctors and pharmacists on the matter is the same. One of the most common problems after the innovation is the lack of synchronization between the doctor and pharmacy software that passes through the National Health Information System, he said.

Bulgarian Medical Association (BMA) Board member and general practitioner Gergana Nikolova commented on the topic on the morning programme of bTV. She said that the BMA does not oppose the practice of issuing electronic prescriptions but criticizes the logistics. Nikolova noted that 40,000 e-prescriptions were issue din 2023, of which only 800 were realized. "Since October 16, 26,000 e-prescriptions have been issued, with 12,000 receiving feedback into the system. What happens to the remaining 14,000 e-prescriptions, which have real patients behind them - there is no answer," she said.

Regarding the shortage of drugs and patients not being able to buy vital medications such as the one for diabetes, Pharmacies Owners’ Association Head Nikolay Kostov said on the morning programme of Nova TV that pharmacies cannot sell clone medication to patients because the software for the e-prescriptions does not allow them to do so. 

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Transport Minister Georgi Gvozdeykov told the morning programme of BNT that “the manufacture of the first helicopter ambulance for Bulgaria is in a rather advanced phase. We expect it to roll of the line in mid-November and test flights to begin”. 

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The morning show of Nova TV featured a rubric dedicated to population statistics. On Wednesday, the data presented was on abortion in the European Union, and Bulgaria ranks first in quantity of abortions. More than half of all the nearly 19,000 abortions last year were done by women's own choice. In about a third of the cases, the abortion was spontaneous, and the fewest were those performed by medical prescription. Women over 30 years of age are most likely to have an abortion by their own choice.

BARCELONAGATE

The Sofia City Prosecution Office terminated the pre-trial investigation on the so-called Barcelonagate case, the prosecuting magistracy said in a press release. Barcelonagate is a money-laundering case, involving the name of GERB leader and former prime minister Boyko Borissov, who is currently an MP of GERB-UDF.

AFC legal advisor and former prosecutor Andrey Yankulov told Nova TV that Barcelonagate is exemplary for the corrupt practices in the state prosecution. "There was a moment when the former Prosecutor General Ivan Geshev somehow repositioned himself politically and went to fight against political corruption. And suddenly the case was rushed and within literally days many procedural and investigative actions were carried out. It even went as far as formally requesting the immunity of former prime minister and MP Boyko Borissov from Parliament. But this request sank and after [Borislav] Sarafov temporarily took over the leadership of the Prosecution Service, we see that this investigation may be coming to its logical end," he said. However, termination is not absolute, administratively, it is still possible for the case to be opened again.

24 Chasa also writes that Barcelonagate is among the cases purposefully delayed by the prosecution service. Barcelonagate is terminated after three years. 

POLITICS

Telegraph has an interview with political scientist Lyubomir Stefanov who comments on the upcoming local elections and their outcome in the capital. According to him, the inevitable second ballot round of elections will be heavily influenced by the non-voting majority. 

He also commented on parliamentary dynamics, noting the importance of Movement for Rights and Freedoms (MRF) voting in support of the ruling coalition between GERB-UDF and Continue the Change – Democratic Bulgaria (CC-DB). Stefanov also said that the opposition parties in the face of Vazrazhdane, BSP for Bulagria, and There is Such a People (TISP), are stripping of value the no confidence motion against the government by organizing one after the other. 

Duma quotes BSP leader Korneliya Ninova saying on Tuesday in Sliven that her party together with TISP and Vazrazhdane are ready with the motives for submitting the second no confidence motion on the grounds of national security. The first one, which did not pass, concerned Bulgaria’s energy security.  

HOME AFFAIRS

In an interview with the Bulgarian National Radio, the Bulgarian Navy Chief of Staff, Naval Captain Vanyo Musinski, said that only sea mines with a small charge have been found in the Black Sea so far. "The mines that we have found so far in the Black Sea are small mines - river mines, lake mines, estuary mines and bay mines. They have very little charge. They are not enough to destroy a large ship, but they can cause serious damage,” he pointed out. 

ECONOMY 

Trud’s top story on high food prices deems governments measures useless. The article references a government website, launched to monitor inflation in Bulgaria and the EU, and compare prices in order to diminish speculation.