By: T. B. (Nova24tv.si)
Eighty-year-old doctor from Vuzenica is being abused by left-wing media against the doctor’s strike, but he himself admitted that young doctors are undervalued. He believes the same applies to nurses, who, due to low incomes, are leaving for Austria or other fields.
The strike by FIDES doctors has entered its fifth week, and the government seems not to be taking action regarding it, while left-wing media is fighting against the doctors’ strike in their well-known way. They exploit the principled stance of an 80-year-old doctor who still diligently performs his work today, but they fail to highlight his opinion on the issue of underpaid doctors and nurses, which he has emphasised multiple times in the past.
Andrija Halužan is an 80-year-old doctor who is still working. He did not participate in the strike because of his oath, which he took when he started his profession, and because he believes that patients are not to blame for the conditions in healthcare, as reported by MMC RTV. Left-wing media, including left-wing activists, exploit his actions to oppose the doctors’ strike, but they forget that Halužan has highlighted the issue of underpaid doctors and nurses in the past and warned that they would start leaving for abroad.
In a recent interview, he stated that he remains in his position because there are no younger colleagues to replace him. However, he is convinced that young doctors, and the same goes for nurses, are leaving for Austria or other fields due to low incomes, as also pointed out by the Association of Nurses, as reported here.
Halužan: Who would blame them with such absurd pay?
The general practitioner, who was chosen as an honorary citizen of the municipality of Vuzenica a few years ago, raised the issue of salaries in 2016 in an interview with Jana, stating, “I work here only because no young doctor wants to come here. And who would blame them with the absurd pay that the state allocates to young doctors!”
He was of the opinion that healthcare should be public and available to everyone, and he identified the problem as “abnormal taxation” causing a lack of funds in healthcare.
Nurses are leaving for Austria solely because of salaries
Halužan highlighted the issue of salaries in healthcare in an interview with Večer in 2022. He stated that the impact of higher pay at the secondary level for the same level of education would be noticeable “in five years when we will not get nurses anymore”.
“Of course, the same work will be done for a higher salary. We are talking about our nurses going to work in Austria. Why? Solely because of money,” he said, emphasising that he fears there will be no more nurses in five years, who are an important part of the medical team.