Did you know that the “savior of mothers” is Hungarian?

Hungary is thankful to and proud of its health-care workers, Bence Rétvári, a state secretary of the interior ministry, said on Friday, marking the upcoming Semmelweis Day, the day of national health care.

Doctors have seen a significant increase in their wages, allowing the elimination of gratuity payments, Rétvári told a Semmelweis Day event at the Jávorszky Ödön Hospital in Vác, on the outskirts of Budapest, adding that nurses were also set to receive a pay hike, MTI wrote.

In spite of the difficulties, the 2024 draft budget set to be passed by parliament next week allocates more funding towards health care than this year’s budget, Rétvári said. Observed on July 1, Semmelweis Day is named after Ignaz Semmelweis, a 19th-century Hungarian physician now known as an early pioneer of antiseptic procedures, who was often described as the “savior of mothers”.