On November 8 Bulgarian Parliament adopted amendments in the Healthcare Law to bring back doctors and dentists to Bulgarian schools, kindergartens and social care homes, Dnevnik daily reported.

While the ruling majority defined these amendments as something positive, the opposition said they were just a means to attract popularity.

According to doctor Vanio Sharkov from the United Democratic Forces (UtDF) the 2008 budget did not make provisions for school doctor salaries, which could run up to about 180 million leva. Another problem was that the personnel was missing.

Leftist Iva Stankova, who proposed the adoption of the amendments, however, calculated that only 8 million leva would be necessary. According to her about 950 new school doctors were required since there were already at least 120 doctors at schools.

Deputy chairman of the parliamentary health committee and Bulgarian Socialist Party (BSP) MP Todor Kumchev said he believed there would always be doctors and dentists who would be willing to work at schools. He explained that school doctors' main tasks were the prevention of disease, food control, smoking control and alcohol and drug abuse control.

Chairman of the Bulgarian Medical Association Andrei Kehaiov said it would be hard to find doctors to work at schools for the prevention of diseases and probably most of the candidates would be close to retirement. Health Minister Radoslav Gaidarski agreed by saying that no doctor would agree to work at a school for 400 leva, while salaries in hospitals were double that amount. The opinion of the municipalities, who would have to pay the school doctors' salaries, is still not known.

Chairman of the Bulgarian Dental Association doctor Nikolai Sharkov called the changes a misunderstanding. The reason was that dentists could treat patients only at registered cabinets, equipped according to requirements. School dentist cabinets would not need equipment since school dentists would perform prevention only. The paradox, however, was that a dental cabinet without equipment cannot be registered.