In 2024, the parents paid over BGN 1 billion for the health of their children, according to a report

In 2024, the parents in Bulgaria invested over BGN 1 billion in children's healthcare. This is stated in a report prepared by a Trust on a social alternative and a network of advocacy organizations. The report summarizes Eurostat data, the National Statistical Institute and the National Health Insurance Fund (NHIF), as well as a special sociological survey on the price of children's medicines.

The document was sent to the Ministry of Finance, to the Ministry of Health, to the NHIF, to all parliamentary groups of the National Assembly, to the parliamentary health committees and budget and finance. The NHIF paid over BGN 126 million in 2024 for the hospital treatment of children, with nearly BGN 30 million paid for children aged one to three years and over BGN 20 million – for children under one year of age, the report is added.

Half of the parents find it difficult to cover the cost of medicines for their children, and 14.4% of the parents are « very difficult » because of these costs. The average annual cost of providing medication for children is BGN 562.32 per child, the report also shows. The inability of parents to provide medicines for their children creates difficult access to quality and sufficient medical care and creates serious health inequalities among children. Difficulty access to medicines adversely affects the health of children, leads to a delayed visit to a doctor, to complications and chronicity. Unsurmored and insufficient treatment overloads the emergency medical care system, increases the number of pediatric hospitalizations, thus consuming a valuable resource of our healthcare system for the treatment of preventable conditions.

In the report, a network of organizations justify the urgent need for reforms in the field of drug policy towards children and their parents. If the NHIF invests in free medicines for the treatment of acute viral infections and for antibiotics for all children under 18, the amount will amount to BGN 17.7 million a year, which is 14% of the costs currently available by the NHIF for child hospitalizations, the report added.