Despite the positive restructuring of recent years, the tensions and problems within the healthcare system require further changes, Minister of State for Healthcare Gábor Zombor said at a conference in Budapest on Wednesday.

“There are great expectations for a change within the healthcare system, because we have arrived at a state in which healthcare workers, beneficiaries and financers all say that things must change”, Mr. Zombor said at the professional conference organised by Hungarian economic daily Napi Gazdaság. Tangible goals must be established and these must be backed by adequate financing, he added.

He said that before allocating additional resources, it must be established whether the existing system makes the best use of available financing. The Minister of State also stressed the importance of keeping healthcare professionals in Hungary and assuring that people can enjoy a healthy life and an extended lifespan. Among the positive changes, he mentioned a reduction in smoking and the introduction of a scholarship system for residents.

Mr. Zombor said he would support every initiative that does not go against the interests of those cared for by the social security system and does not lead to a divide between rich and poor within the system. He also said that abolishing the practice of patients paying gratuities for healthcare is primarily a question of transparency, adding that a gray financial sector cannot be run based on modern management systems.

(Ministry of Human Resources)