In Bulgaria, human resources in health care are a serious problem that has worsened in recent years, Associate Professor Gena Grancharova, Dean of the Public Health Faculty at Pleven Medical University, told Bulgarian news agency BTA on August 5.

She said that a shortage of nurses was a major issue.

There had been a decrease in the number of students majoring in this speciality because of the low wages, Grancharova said.

“Last year we had problems with students who enrolled for a bachelor’s degree in nursing. Many of them had great difficulty in adapting and 10 left even before the first exams,” she said.

Currently, Bulgaria has 29 000 nurses, half the number 10 years ago.

Many health services available in Europe have not yet caught on in Bulgaria.

However, Grancharova said that services would expand as the population aged and demand for home health care increased.