National Assembly President Tsetska Tsacheva has bestowed the certificate “Physician trusted by Bulgarians” to twelve young doctors. The ceremony took place in the parliament’s plenary hall and was held to mark the end of the initiative of the “24 Hours” newspaper. Readers of the newspaper were asked to nominate 300 Bulgarian physicians whom they trust. The selected physicians were invited at the National Assembly and handed out the certificate.

The National Assembly President Tsetska Tsacheva noted that it had become customary to gather in the plenary hall physicians who have received the recognition and trust of Bulgarian citizens. She added that trust of patients come as a result of doctors’ high professionalism and respect towards them. She praised the initiative and said good deeds should be noticed and rewarded.

Tsetska Tsacheva also noted that the ceremony carried a message aimed at recent medical graduates, who had not made yet their mind, whether to practice  in the country or abroad. “The example of the doctors present here shows that when a physician is dedicated and competent, he finds recognition.” She mentioned as well that Bulgarians living abroad come back to Bulgaria to get medical treatment from specialists.

Tsetska Tsacheva pointed out that medical doctors in the country know the proper remedies needed to make the health care system more efficient and said their voice should be heard. “One can’t reform a system without taking the opinion of the professionals within”, she added.

The award ceremony was attended by the minister of health Petar Moskov and by lawmakers. Dr. Petar Moskov talked about the key issues of the forthcoming health care reform and answered the questions of physicians.

The opinion expressed by the prominent medical specialists, selected by the public for their professionalism and human attitude toward patients, revealed that the most urgent problems of the healthcare system, at the beginning of 2016, remain the inadequate funding, the shortage of health professionals, the inadequate oversight over the quality of medical treatment, the way of running expenditures and the bad shape of the urgent health care in the country.