Magyar News, 2004. szeptember-2005. augusztus (15. évfolyam, 1-12. szám)
2005-06-01 / 10. szám
This really needs a pill with a glass of water Tempted by salaries more than 10 times higher than at home, Hungarian doctors are emigrating to western Europe, leaving behind understaffed hospitals and a health care system teetering on the edge of bankruptcy. According to a recent survey of the Faculty of Medicine in Budapest, 66 percent of graduates in the European Union's new member said they plan to work abroad while 33 percent said they have already started searching for work in western Europe. Some 430 young doctors have left the country for better paying jobs since Hungary joined the bloc on May 1 of last year, according to Ivan Golub, president of the Union of Hungarian Hospitals. "If this tendency continues, in a few years we will have to close hospitals because there will be no doctors around to work in them," Golub said. He said a number of medical school graduates who do stay end up working not as doctors, but for pharmaceutical companies that pay higher wages. The average monthly salary for a Hungarian doctor is 180.000 forint (740 euros, 970 dollars). In western Europe meanwhile, a doctor can earn up to triple that amount for a single weekend on duty, according to a recent report by the Baranya county Chamber of Doctors in southern Hungary. The report says a number of Hungarian medical graduates, especially anaesthetists, spend weekends working at hospitals abroad, for example in neighbouring Austria, after a hard week's work back home. "We don't have exact statistics on those who double up with work abroad, but there are many," said József Bodis, president of the Baranya county chamber. Others decide to pack up for good. Peter Salltsig, 31, graduated from medical school in Budapest and found a job in Switzerland where he says he earns in one year what he would earn in Hungary in 10 years. "I come to party to Budapest," Salltsig said, showing off his brand new sports car. Hungary's western region bordering with Austria is the most affected by the desertion of doctors, leaving understaffed clinics behind them. Anaesthetists are reportedly the most in demand abroad, especially in Austria, Britain and Germany. The job vacancies in Hungary are often filled by ethnic Hungarians who live in poor neighbouring countries, such as Romania, Ukraine or Serbia. Up to one-third of the vacant medical positions in central Hungary are filled with doctors from these countries, MTI national news agency reported earlier this month. It added that many of the newcomers stay only briefly and then also move on to the west in hopes of even higher wages. The cash-strapped Hungarian health care system, meanwhile, is teetering on the edge of bankruptcy. The ruling Socialist-Liberal government has urged the privatisation of hospitals as the recipe for saving the institutions, but it has conceded it does not have enough political support to carry out any major reforms until elections in 2006. A referendum in December urging a ban on privatisation of health institutions failed due to low turnout, but most of those casting ballots said they are opposed to the privatisation of hospitals. ABY BABY Budapest, March 7 (MTI) - The number of marriages made in Hungary marked a negative record in 2004, a national paper said on Monday, citing figures by the Central Statistical Office. The daily Magyar Nemzet said that only 43,800 couples got married last year, whereas the number in 1980 was 80,331 and in some years of the 1970's this number exceeded 100,000. Number of marriages lowest in 2004. In 2004, 1600 (3.5pc) fewer marriages materialized than a year earlier, and the age of couples deciding to legalize their relationship seems to be increasing, the paper said. Most people get married between 30 and 34, and practically no one under 20 does so. At the same time the number of divorces has shown an upward tendency. In 1980, 346 out of a thousand marriages ended in a divorce, while by 2004 this number had surged to 571, representing an overall 25,000 cases. Getting a divorce is most 'popular' in the 25-29 age group. 1987 was a record year for divorces, when 29,856 marriages were terminated, Magyar Nemzet said. According to the National Office of Statistics the number of births decreased to a historic bottom in Hungary. Though so far only the data of the first ten months have been processed by experts it is probable that the last year hit a negative record of births in Hungary. According to the report between January and October, 2004 there were 79 thousand babies bom, by 950 less than in the similar period of 2003. There is little chance that the data would be more favorable in the rest of the year. Ferenc Kamarás, expert of the National Office of Statistic said the decline was due to fears of the future. So far the negative record has been hit by births in 1999 when 94 645 babies were registered.The number of deaths has been decreased, too. The population of Hungary in October last year has been estimated by experts as 10 099 thousand. The number of marriages was 39 400 in the given period, 1400 (3,4 pc) less than a year before. Translated by Péter Szentmihályi Szabó Finding work and helping people Budapest, (MTI) - One of the largest Slovenian clothing companies will employ several hundred Hungarian seamstresses from villages in south-west Hungary, offering them high wages, an economic daily wrote on Thursday. The Slovenian Lendava-based Koncept Optimum company has promised monthly average net HUF 120,000 wages, including benefits, which is several times higher than the net amount paid in the branch in Hungary, the business and financial daily Napi Gazdasag reported. Koncept Optimum won a major order from an Italian fashion company, which made it necessary to hire 600 new workers. It then turned to the Zala county labor centre, asking it to help organize the recruitment of workers in the town of Lenti. More than 200 women filled out applications in the town's employment office at the first recruitment. Hungarians help orphans of Sri Lanka Budapest (MTI) - Two Hungarian organizations have started a collection to finance the construction of several buildings on the tsunami-hit island of Sri Lanka. They will build 150 simple but stable residential buildings, a school, orphanage and workshop near Ampara, a locality on the eastern shore of the country, director Gabor Miko of the Hungarian-Sri Lankan Friendship Society told reporters. The area designated for the "Hungarian village" was wiped out by the December 26 tidal wave, Padma Gannoruwa, honorary consul of Sri Lanka to Hungary, said. If all goes well, the orphanage will be completed within two months at Galle, on the southern shore of the island. Sándor Szenczy, Director of the Baptist Charity, said. Over 10,000 Sri Lankan children lost their parents, and most have found temporary shelter in Buddhist temples. To date 4,000 Hungarians have indicated their intention to symbolically adopt Sri Lankan orphans, Szenczy said. Page 2
