“Some people have been saying that the salaries of medical workers in Serbia are yet to reach 1,000 euros, but I am saying that that has already happened,” said President Aleksandar Vučić in an interview for one of the pro-government TV stations, citing the example of a specialist doctor whose salary is 1,020 euros and doctors working in so-called COVID hospitals who have a salary of 1,500 euros.
According to the President, both nurses and medical technicians have had a significant pay rise, “from 282 euros to 522 euros,” while the staff working in COVID hospitals have salaries of up to 684 euros.
Although the salaries of medical workers have increased significantly since the beginning of the pandemic, their paychecks don’t even come close to the figures quoted by the state leadership.
“Before announcing the latest increase in salaries in January this year, the government should, first and foremost, answer why it is delaying the implementation of the Law on Pay Grades until 2025, according to which salaries should go up by about 30%? If you care about medical workers and citizens and their right to health care, why is there a plan to reduce the number of health care facilities from 300 to 120 by 2035?” Radomir Panić, president of the Union of Physicians and Pharmacists, asks.
He states that even after the announced increase in January, medical workers have a long way to go to have a salary of 1,000 euros, as the President of Serbia claims. According to the relevant calculations, in 2012, nurses earned an average of 25,541 dinars without allowances, while a doctor’s salary was 56,466 dinars (allowance not included).
This year, nurses are set to receive 46,170 dinars a month on average and doctors 95,891 dinars.
(Danas, 17.03.2022)
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