Politically-motivated persecution of healthcare workers continues – opposition initiative

December 26, BPN. Authorities fired more than 200 healthcare workers in 2021 and 2022 for political reasons, says a recent study by the Center for European Transformation and the Flying University.

They also forced professionals to quit, the study said, noting that 67 out of the 170 healthcare workers who applied to the ByMedSol Solidarity Fund resigned under pressure, and 34 more lost their jobs as their contracts were not renewed.

The real number of politically-motivated dismissals in healthcare is higher, a spokesperson of Belye Chalaty (White Coats) opposition initiative told BPN.

“There is no algorithm that allows us to collect reliable statistics,” said the activist who wished to remain anonymous and urged people to fill in the ByMedSol’s Google form to track politically motivated layoffs.

The scale of the crackdown can be indirectly calculated from the number of open positions in healthcare that indicate about a 10-percent shortage of doctors.

The National Statistical Committee said that over 55,000 doctors and about 124,000 nurses were employed in healthcare at the start of 2022, a number comparable to 2021.

Forty-six practicing physicians and 134 paramedics are available per 10,000 people in Belarus.

On December 23, the nationwide job database listed 4,617 open positions for doctors. Open positions rose from 3,862 in late June.