Lithuanian doctors calling for better pay
Doctors in Lithuania have signed a petition demanding a 30 percent pay rise from 2018 for all those employed in the country's healthcare sector, with doctor's salaries rising to the EU average by 2020. Commentators agree that doctors should receive better pay but also call on the medical profession to counter the widespread bribery in the healthcare sector.
Don't spend all the money on defence
Public expenditure should be more balanced, the web portal Diena demands:
“Lithuania spends more money on defence with every passing day, while the salaries of doctors, teachers, academics, and other professionals whom our country urgently needs are pitifully low. So we shouldn't be surprised that these professionals are leaving the country in droves. ... No one's saying that defending our country isn't important. But there has to be a balance in public spending. You can't put hundreds of millions of euros into one area and toss nothing but gnawed bones to others. Above all when you consider that the representatives of other professions are only asking for a fraction of what goes into purchasing weapons and armoured vehicles.”
Fight corruption in the healthcare system
Although doctors benefit from the widespread corruption in the healthcare system they shouldn't simply remain silent about it, Delfi comments:
“Doctors should make a pledge of incorruptibility. Then society would perhaps support their demands for better pay. ... The state should also do something about the corruption in the healthcare system. That would no doubt mean some having to trade their white coat for a pair of handcuffs. But as far as most patients are concerned it would be enough if the doctors simply pointed out that bribery is a criminal offence.”