On January 21 the Bulgarian Medical Association (BMA) would organise national 1-hour protest actions in all medical institutions without, however, interrupting emergency aid, mediapool.bg said.

The reason for the protest is restrictions on healthcare services and the closure of over 100 municipal hospitals.

BMA chairman Andrei Kehaiov announced the protest was against the attempts to bring Bulgaria's healthcare system back to a stage which would lead to serious internal shakes. „The basic principles functioning in Bulgarian healthcare, the principles of solidarity, have been violated,“ Kehaiov said. The money follows the patient through regional budgets, which are currently being limited."

The regional budgets for medical institutions for 2008 are between 15 and 20 per cent less than in 2007. "Since the prices of healthcare services are preserved, what will actually the restriction be. The restriction will be in the access since hospitals will be limited and a hospital cannot receive more cases than its budget allows,“ Kehaiov said as reported by mediapool.bg.

Doctor Maria Kirilova from Veliko Turnovo said that regional healthcare was being additionally neglected because of the closure of 150 municipal hospitals. According to her, talks about closing hospitals started in 2004 but nobody said saying exactly what would happen and how. Kirilova said that municipalities were the ones that had to pass their judgement on the closure of municipal hospitals.

The first 1-hour protests would take place on January 16 at the Pleven hospitals and the pre-hospital care, mediapool.bg said.

According to BMA data, every day between 5 and 7 doctors resign from Bulgaria's medical institutions.