Union: 6,000 Physicians Have Left Serbia in the Past Decade

Gorica Djokic/BETAPHOTO/MEDIA CENTER BELGRADE

President of the Union of Physicians and Pharmacists Dr. Gorica Djokic has said that 6,000 doctors have left Serbia over the past 10 years.

Djokic told BETA that the salaries of physicians were lower in Serbia than the region and that "with 283 doctors per 100,000 people we are far below the average in EU countries." "Over the past decade from 200 to 700 doctors left Serbia each year. On average more than 550 physicians leave Serbia a year. Our health system lacks a large number of all profiles of doctors, and we have 1,800 unemployed doctors including specialists according to the National Employment Service," Djokic said.

She added that the state wanted to mend the situation in the health care system by purchasing equipment and building or rebuilding facilities, but that there was a shortage of personnel for the equipment. She said that the entire world was facing a deficit of health workers.

Developed European states, she said, solve the deficit of health workers by "pulling" them out of Balkan countries. "The maximum salary of a specialist in Serbia reaches RSD140,000, which is significantly less than in surrounding countries. Our salaries are the lowest in the region and several times lower compared to the EU," she stressed.