380,000 Bulgarians do not have health insurance

According to the National Health Insurance Fund, 380,000 Bulgarians do not pay health insurance contributions and do not have a GP.

Experts from the Health Ministry are blaming this situation for an outbreak of diphtheria and enteric infections among children this summer. Although anyone who refuses to take the obligatory inoculations can be fined up to 100 leva (50 Euro), families without GPs are falling through the net.

Most of those who fail to have these obligatory immunisations are children. The Hygiene and Epidemiology Institute is conducting a campaign to identify newly-born babies who are without GPs. Without inoculations there is a risk that they will become ill from infections like diphtheria, tetanus and hepatitis B, national epidemiology consultant Mira Kojuharova said. Other obligatory inoculations include tuberculosis, whooping-cough, measles, parotiditis, and rubella.

The vaccinations are free of charge and the health insurance of people aged under 18 is paid for by the state, so there is no reason that they should be left without GPs, experts from the Health Ministry said.