Following an analysis of the Ministry of Health’s revised budget, the Democratic Union for Integration (BDI) has raised serious concerns. According to the party, the documents reveal a troubling reality: the government is simultaneously presenting hundreds of millions of denars in capital investments without clear financial backing while cutting funding for vital programs such as preventive healthcare, children’s check-ups, maternal health, the fight against cancer and tuberculosis, and mental healthcare.
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At the center of the criticism is an allocation of 300 million denars, approximately 4.9 million euros, planned under the program for the reconstruction and expansion of public healthcare facilities, specifically for “other construction facilities.” The problem lies in the source of these funds: they were not part of the initial budget but were recorded under expenditures from self-financing activities, an account that depends on revenue the Ministry must collect itself.
According to sources within the Ministry of Health cited by BDI, this account generates only 1 to 3 million denars a year. This raises direct questions: how can 300 million denars be planned from a source that generates such a minimal amount? Where will this money actually come from? Do these funds truly exist, or have they been included only on paper for daily propaganda purposes? There are even suspicions that liabilities may be created toward contractors without secured financial coverage, risking future lawsuits against the state over completed but unpaid work.
While this investment of 300 million denars is considered questionable, the documents also highlight actual cuts to various programs that directly affect citizens’ well-being. The overall budget for preventive healthcare has fallen from 677,195,000 denars to 669,995,000 denars, a cut of 7.2 million denars.
More specifically, funding for the prevention of cardiovascular diseases has been reduced from 18 million to 17.1 million denars, a loss of 900,000 denars. Routine check-ups for school and university students have been cut by 500,000 denars, falling from 10 million to 9.5 million denars. Funding for primary healthcare has been reduced by 3.25 million denars, from 65 million to 61.75 million denars. The tuberculosis prevention program also now has 300,000 denars less, dropping from 12.5 million to 12.2 million denars.
Other cuts include the active maternal and child health program, which has been reduced from 17 million to 16.15 million denars, or 850,000 denars less, and the early detection of malignant diseases program, which has fallen from 23 million to 22.4 million denars, a loss of 600,000 denars. Funding for the “Health for All” program has been reduced by 170,000 denars, from 3.5 million to 3.33 million denars, while funding for healthcare for people with mental disorders has fallen by 3 million denars, from 65 million to 62 million denars. Finally, treatment for people who use drugs now has a budget of 1.9 million denars, 100,000 denars less than before.
BDI stresses that the consequences of these cuts will not remain mere statistics in budget tables. Citizens will feel them through a lack of check-ups, delayed diagnoses and inadequate treatment, especially in critical areas such as cardiovascular diseases, cancer, mental health, and maternal and child care.
In conclusion, BDI is calling on the Ministry of Health to immediately disclose several sets of data. These include the performance of the self-financing account over the past three years, the specific source of the 300 million denars, the list of projects and contracts to be financed from this amount, unpaid liabilities to companies, the reasons for each cut to preventive programs, and the number of citizens and services that will be affected. According to the party, the healthcare system cannot be managed with fabricated figures, investments without genuine financial backing, and cuts to programs that are vital to citizens, and it is demanding concrete answers rather than propaganda presentations.
