As the government gives special powers to the authorities to combat the coronavirus pandemic, closing down universities and introducing strict border controls, pro and anti-government think-tanks clash on Facebook over the legitimacy of the ‘special legal order’ declared on Wednesday. READ MORE
As the number of patients who have tested positive with coronavirus is mounting slowly, an anti-government commentator fears that Hungary’s medical infrastructure is inadequate to cope with a possible outbreak of the epidemic. READ MORE
A left-wing commentator finds the government’s coronavirus emergency plans wanting. A pro-government columnist welcomes the government’s decision to temporarily suspend entry to two Transit Zones on the Hungary-Serbia border, as one of a series of measures to reduce the risk of coronavirus entering the country. READ MORE
A business analyst believes that despite strong attacks on the government for the sad state of the public health service, all political sides actually agree on the necessity to spend more on health care. READ MORE
As health workers’ trade unions reject the government’s pay hike scheme, a health care manager advocates the rationalization of services and the abolition of ‘gratitude money’. READ MORE
Commenting on PM Orbán’s
Two conservative economists urge measures to stop the exodus of doctors and nurses, and suggest tax increases in order to make substantial wage hikes possible. READ MORE
A pro-government daily publishes an article by a former minister of health who sounds the alarm over the critical state of the Hungarian health care sector. READ MORE
As doctors demand higher wages to end so called ‘gratitude payments’ and stop the emigration of health care personnel from Hungary, a centrist columnist thinks that ending the system of illegal payments in hospitals is close to impossible. READ MORE
A conservative author urges substantial pay hikes in the National Health Service instead of formally allowing physicians to take cash bonuses from patients. READ MORE