hospital

Breaking news – a new record in the number of COVID-19 infections in Hungary

Seventeen Covid-19 patients have died in the past 24 hours, while the number of registered coronavirus infections in Hungary has risen by 1,322 to 28,631, koronavirus.gov.hu said on Friday morning. The number of fatalities stands at 798, and 6,349 people have made a recovery.

There are 21,484 active infections and 740 Covid-19 patients are being treated in hospital, 47 on ventilators. Altogether 22,906 people are in official home quarantine and 740,043 tests have been carried out. The website warned Hungarians to observe social distancing guidelines and hygiene regulations.

Entry restrictions for travellers from abroad remain in force.

The operative body responsible for handling the epidemic response has ordered 5 schools to revert to digital education. Fully 121 classes in otherwise operating schools have also been ordered to work from home, and

33 kindergartens and 6 schools have gone on emergency breaks, the website said.

Most infections have been registered in Budapest (10,576), followed by Pest County (3,866) and the counties of Gyor-Moson-Sopron (1,466), Fejer (1,290), Csongrad-Csanad (1,234), Hajdu-Bihar (1,190) and Szabolcs-Szatmar-Bereg (1,174). Tolna County has the fewest infections (282).

October 2, 2020

Hungarian virologist: COVID-19 + flu = unpredictable consequences

Many are asking for a flu vaccine, but only healthy people can receive it, even though authorities and healthcare professionals cannot test all the applicants. A healthcare expert said that if the patients do not show symptoms of the coronavirus, they can receive the vaccine.

According to atv, the Hungarian government decided to provide the vaccine against the flu for free for every Hungarian citizen. Many healthcare professionals already mentioned during the summer that catching the flu or even a cold can be very, very dangerous for those struggling with the coronavirus. Firstly, it is hard to distinguish the symptoms of the two diseases. Furthermore, it is hard to tell how a patient’s body reacts if both viruses are present in it. Ferenc Jakab, a Hungarian virologist, said that there was a significant chance for coinfection, but

nobody knows what the result could be in the case of an already weak immune system.

Mr Jakab highlighted how important it is to keep to all measures introduced to stop the spread of the virus, for example, washing hands and wearing a face mask. He added that we could kill two birds with one stone by taking that advice since the spreading mechanism of the flu and the COVID-19 viruses are similar, so we can avoid both infections.

Moreover, he said that everybody could take the flu vaccine

to improve their chances. However, currently, only healthy people can receive that in Hungary, but the healthcare system cannot test the applicants. Erzsébet Pusztai, a healthcare professional, added that doing a test does not make sense in every situation.

That is because somebody who is not a contact person and does not have symptoms could also catch the disease some days before receiving the flu vaccine. After all,

there is a time period during which the tests do not show the coronavirus infection.

Ms Pusztai added that scheduling is very vital in the administration process of the vaccine. Therefore, people should arrive at their doctor’s in time for their appointment and thus avoid crowds in the waiting rooms.

October 2, 2020

PM Orbán: coronavirus vaccine will be available in Hungary

Hungary will procure a vaccine for the novel coronavirus and it will be made available to all Hungarians who want it, Prime Minister Viktor Orbán has said in an interview to commercial broadcaster TV2. Orbán said that Hungary had successfully defeated the epidemic once and would do so again.

In the pre-recorded interview broadcast on Sunday evening, Orbán said, “Brussels estimates the virus will be ready by 2021, while the Americans expected it to be ready by the end of the year”.

“We will be free from this misery, and we will endure it until then,” Orbán said.

He said the country’s health-care system and economy would function. “We won’t retreat; we’ll preserve Hungary’s chance of coming out of this crisis fortified.”

September 27, 2020

Breaking news – even a 30-year-old Hungarian died because of the coronavirus

Six Covid-19 patients have died in the past 24 hours, while the number of registered coronavirus infections in Hungary has risen by 937 to 24,014, koronavirus.gov.hu said on Sunday morning.

The number of fatalities stands at 736, and 5,141 people have made a recovery. There are 18,137 active infections and 620 Covid-19 patients are being treated in hospital, 38 on ventilators. Altogether 24,538 people are in official home quarantine and 690,408 tests have been carried out.

The website warned Hungarians to observe social distancing guidelines and hygiene regulations. A cabinet meeting on Sept. 16 decided

to extend entry restrictions for travellers from abroad.

In addition to shops and public transport, wearing a mask is now mandatory in cinemas, theatres, health and social institutions and public offices, and clubs have to close by 11pm to curb the spread of the virus.

The operative body responsible for handling the epidemic response has ordered 7 schools to revert to digital education. Fully 187 classes in otherwise operating schools have also been ordered to work from home, and

28 kindergartens and 8 schools have gone on emergency breaks,

the website said.

Most infections have been registered in Budapest (9,155), followed by Pest County (3,165) and the counties of Gyor-Moson-Sopron (1,182), Fejer (1,115), Csongrad-Csanad (1,068), Szabolcs-Szatmar-Bereg (970) and Hajdu-Bihar (955). Tolna County has the fewest infections (250).

A 30-year-old man died because of the coronavirus, he is the youngest victim of the deadly epidemic.

September 27, 2020

Shocking details about the future trend of the coronavirus in the ministry’s analysis

A Hungarian newspaper acquired an analysis made by the epidemic group of the Minister for Innovation and Technology stating that the number of COVID-19 deaths will start to rise significantly from the beginning of next month. Further details below.

According to Nepszava, an expert told them that the reason for the potential increase is that the virus spreads among young people during the second wave of the epidemic. In Florida, Spain, or Southern France, the same trend happened before, and it also started with a relatively low number of proved infections, but the moment it reached the older generation, the number of deaths started to rise quickly.

In those countries, 4-5 weeks passed between the first time high numbers of infection were registered and the first time high numbers of death were registered. Interestingly, the Ministry for Innovation and Technology

predicted the future of the epidemic in spring more accurately than any other institution in Hungary.

In spring, both the Ministry of Human Capacities (EMMI) and the Ministry of Technology and Innovation (ITM) made scenarios about the epidemic, but both calculated with only minus 20 pc of reduction in the physical contact between people. Therefore, both of them said that, by August, there would be millions of infected Hungarians. However, since the reduction in personal contact exceeded 60 pc in the country and even reached 90 pc in Budapest, the final numbers were only a fraction of the previously calculated ones.

In spring, the Ministry of Technology and Innovation said that the country needed a combined strategy against the virus because keeping the number of physical contacts that low is unsustainable. Therefore, they said that the government should extend testing because

90-95 pc of those infected do not get put into quarantine since nobody knows about them.

Gergely Röst, a mathematician at the University of Szeged, added that the government should increase the efficiency of contact tracing as well. He said that involving medical universities in mass testing has been the only positive decision since their warning in spring.

PM Viktor Orbán said on Monday that, according to the experts, the highest number of infected people in Hungary could “only” be 200 thousand, which means that

they would need 16 thousand hospital beds and 800 ventilators.

He added that he calculates with double those numbers, but he said that even such numbers would not cause any problems, and nobody would remain without proper care.

September 27, 2020

Orbán: All conditions in place for treating patients in Hungary

All the conditions are in place in the country to treat Covid-19 patients, Prime Minister Viktor Orbán has said, adding that the country has a sufficient number of hospital beds, staff and enough medical equipment.

In a video on Facebook page uploaded on Saturday morning following a meeting of the operative board in charge of coronavirus-related measures, Orbán noted that the second wave of the epidemic was under way “with strong momentum”.

He said hospital capacity is reviewed regularly at operational board meetings in terms of whether there are a sufficient number of beds, doctors and staff, as well as the amount of equipment such as ventilators.

The prime minister said additional hospitals set up to handle the a surge of patients were available, but for now there was no need to open them.

Orbán said it was likely that the number of patients would grow. “We’ll have to open them at some point, but we still have a safe amount of reserves,” he said.

Hungary’s chief medical officer has urged citizens to abide by the rules in place to control the spread of the coronavirus, warning that, otherwise, further restrictions would need to be introduced.

Cecília Müller told public media on Saturday that the current stage of the epidemic was characterised by community transmissions of the virus.

She called on the elderly to avoid crowded places and to go to the shops early in the day.

More generally, Müller recommended being outdoors and doing sports as much as possible. She added, however, that as the weather worsens people would find themselves inside, so mask-wearing should be taken seriously.

Müller noted that the second wave of the epidemic was under way in Hungary and gathering pace, with the number of hospitalisations increasing.

Read alsoNew coronavirus function of Google Maps arrives this week to Hungary

September 26, 2020

An almost record-high number of new COVID-19 infections again in Hungary

Nine Covid-19 patients have died in the past 24 hours, while the number of registered coronavirus infections in Hungary has risen by 927 to 22,127, koronavirus.gov.hu said on Friday morning. The number of fatalities stands at 718, and 4,945 people have made a recovery.

There are 16,464 active infections and 577 Covid-19 patients are being treated in hospital, 30 on ventilators. Altogether 25,374 people are in official home quarantine and 668,553 tests have been carried out. The website warned Hungarians to observe social distancing guidelines and hygiene regulations.

A cabinet meeting on Sept. 16 decided to extend entry restrictions for travellers from abroad. In addition to shops and public transport, wearing a mask is now mandatory in cinemas, theatres, health and social institutions and public offices,

and clubs have to close by 11pm to curb the spread of the virus.

The operative body responsible for handling the epidemic response has ordered 7 schools to revert to digital education. Fully 194 classes in otherwise operating schools have also been ordered to work from home, and 28 kindergartens and 8 schools have gone on emergency breaks, the website said.

Most infections have been registered in Budapest (8,618),

followed by Pest County (2,973) and the counties of Gyor-Moson-Sopron (1,048), Fejer (1,046), Csongrad-Csanad (1,002), Hajdu-Bihar (861) and Szabolcs-Szatmar-Bereg (854). Tolna County has the fewest infections (231).

September 25, 2020

Coronavirus – Registered infections exceed 750 in Hungary

Seven Covid-19 patients, all enderly and suffering from an underlying illness, have died in the past 24 hours, while the number of registered coronavirus infections in Hungary has risen by 750 to 21,200, koronavirus.gov.hu said on Thursday morning.

The number of fatalities stands at 709, and 4,818 people have made a recovery.

There are 15,673 active infections and 549 Covid-19 patients are being treated in hospital, 32 on ventilators. Altogether 27,403 people are in official home quarantine and 657,437 tests have been carried out.

The website warned Hungarians to observe social distancing guidelines and hygiene regulations. A cabinet meeting on Sept. 16 decided to extend entry restrictions for travellers from abroad.

In addition to shops and public transport, wearing a mask is now mandatory in cinemas, theatres, health and social institutions and public offices, and clubs have to close by 11pm to curb the spread of the virus.

The operative body responsible for handling the epidemic response has so far ordered 9 schools to revert to digital education. Fully 200 classes in otherwise operating schools have also been ordered to work from home, and 24 kindergartens and 8 schools have gone on emergency breaks, the website said.

Most infections have been registered in Budapest (8,337), followed by Pest County (2,883) and the counties of Fejer (1,026), Csongrad-Csanad (944), Gyor-Moson-Sopron (937), Szabolcs-Szatmar-Bereg (840) and Hajdu-Bihar (834). Tolna County has the fewest infections (225).

Read alsoQuarantine for foreign travellers lowered to 10 days in Hungary

September 24, 2020

Shocking news came: the number of infected Hungarians is record-high

Eight Covid-19 patients have died in the past 24 hours, while the number of registered coronavirus infections in Hungary has risen by 1,070 to 17,990, koronavirus.gov.hu said on Sunday morning.

The number of fatalities stands at 683, and 4,391 people have made a recovery.

There are 12,916 active infections and 404 Covid-19 patients are being treated in hospital, 32 on ventilators. Altogether 25,583 people are in official home quarantine and 615,999 tests have been carried out.

Coronavirus Hungary infections — Here are the number of the infected by region. https://www.facebook.com/koronavirus.gov.hu

The website warned Hungarians to observe social distancing guidelines and hygiene regulations.

A cabinet meeting on September 16 decided to extend entry restrictions for travellers from abroad. In addition to shops and public transport, mask-wearing will be made mandatory in cinemas, theatres, health and social institutions and public offices, and clubs will have to close by 11pm to curb the spread of the virus.

Most infections have been registered in Budapest (7,472), followed by Pest County (2,455) and the counties of Fejer (899), Gyor-Moson-Sopron (703), Hajdu-Bihar (694), Szabolcs-Szatmar-Bereg (667) and Csongrad-Csanad (666). Bekes County has the fewest infections (134).

September 20, 2020

Rust and filth: repulsive photos show what a COVID-19 centre looks like in Hungary

Those who have already been in a Hungarian hospital know that they are not the most modern buildings in the world. Moreover, Hungarian healthcare workers from the doctors to the assistants are not only underpaid but also overworked, so it is not surprising that those who acquire their degree start their career abroad, mostly in Germany or Austria. Taking all these into consideration, it is still shocking what COVID-19 departments look like today and in what kind of environment healthcare workers have to hold on day by day.

Currently, it is common knowledge in Hungary that the healthcare system of the country does not collapse because of the commitment and perseverance of the people working in it. The below-published photos are not from individuals who received care but from the Hungarian Medical Chamber, the trade union of the Hungarian doctors.

The photos show

what a doctor’s lounge and a toilet look like in the COVID-department

of an unknown hospital. 24 tried to ask the medical chamber who took the photos and where, but they answered that they would like to protect their source. At first, they only said that “COVID centre, doctor’s lounge, and toilet. Our colleagues hold on even in such circumstances.”

Later, they amended their post. They said that their colleagues are close to their physical limits but are afraid of their bosses. Therefore, they would not like to have their name or the hospital where they took the photo displayed under the post.

Still, they do what they can at the coronavirus department.

The Hungarian Medical Chamber added that their task is not to criticise a department or a hospital but to provide an opportunity for their colleagues to share their problems. It is the chamber’s task to

protect their colleagues who would like to remain anonymous.

They only hope that the photos will reach the maintainer of the institution who will recognise the place where they were taken.

Meanwhile, the medical chamber does not want to suggest that the quality of the care is low in the institution. The chamber says that the photos only show that regardless of the circumstances, their colleagues provide quality care for their patients.

September 20, 2020

Coronavirus – Registered infections up by 809 in Hungary

Six Covid-19 patients, all suffering from underlying illnesses, have died in the past 24 hours, while the number of registered coronavirus infections in Hungary has risen by 809 to 16,920, koronavirus.gov.hu said on Saturday morning.

The number of fatalities stands at 675, and 4,382 people have made a recovery.

There are 11,863 active infections and 386 Covid-19 patients are being treated in hospital, 30 on ventilators.

Altogether 28,527 people are in official home quarantine and 604,122 tests have been carried out.

The website warned Hungarians to observe social distancing guidelines and hygiene regulations.

Most infections have been registered in Budapest (7,059), followed by Pest County (2,296) and the counties of Fejer (850), Gyor-Moson-Sopron (664), Hajdu-Bihar (648) and Csongrad-Csanad (637). Bekes County has the fewest infections (118).

Read alsoCoronavirus – Ireland and Greece require mandatory quarantine for those arriving from Hungary

September 19, 2020

Severe shortage in Hungarian hospitals, expert calls for six nurses per hospital bed

Regardless of the recent purchase of ventilator machines, hospitals continue to suffer from a severe shortage of ICU nurses. The lack of restrictive measures from the government is also threatening to pose a heavy burden on the capacity of healthcare institutions.

“The number of intensive care nurses determines capacity and not the available equipment”

– said Péter Hegyi, head of Translational Medicine Foundation (Transzlációs Medicina Alapítvány) at a video conference last week, which was organised by the same team as the one who had prepared materials for the operative body earlier this year.

He argues that the insufficient number of ICU nurses for hospital beds leads to a “huge loss of quality” in patient care, reports 444. In April, for example, there were about 2,000 hospital beds and 2,000 nurses, which was already not optimal. Hegyi argues that with shifts and bank holidays also considered, the ideal ratio should be three nurses per hospital bed.

But since the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, many sources have since reported an increase in hospital beds to 8,000, while the headcount remained the same. What makes things more complicated is that nurses should not be allowed to wear that type of protective gear for more than eight hours – this taken into account, the ideal ratio would be six nurses per hospital bed.

Back to the restrictive measures?

Unfortunately, the measures taken by the government seem to be going in the opposite direction. Even though the above information was communicated to the operative body,

Foreign affairs have purchased 16,000 ventilators, which was then further increased with 2,500. Not to mention the government’s latest order to free up 10,000 hospital beds

And with the increasing number of infections again, the existing personnel is expected to suffer a much larger burden than before. Hegyi argues that the key would be in taking restrictive measures, similarly to what was done in spring with the closure of schools, for example.

These measures could help reduce the R-number and slow down the spread of the virus – otherwise soon there will be a shortage of hospital beds, too. Another crucial thing would be testing. “There is a direct link between the number of tests taken and the number of fatal cases”, says the article, concluding the results of Hegyi’s analysis.

Read alsoHungarian nurses at the forefront of the coronavirus fight earn less than EUR 300

September 17, 2020

Hungarians stormed the pharmacies for medicine stocks

The list of medicines in short supply is becoming longer.

After the 4 billion HUF (EUR 11.13 million) increase in the sector in June the trend continued in July with 2 billion HUF (EUR 5.55 million). Therefore, the altogether trade value of the prescription-only medicines (POM) rose to 45.8 billion HUF (EUR 127.4 million).

According to napi.hu, in July, the medicine trade value was exceptionally high in Hungary. Zsolt Virág, leader of the directorate board of the Hiflylabs, added that it exceeded the 2019 average, too. The altogether trade value of the prescription-only medicines (POM) rose to 45.8 billion HUF (EUR 127.4 million) in July which is a four pc increase compared to the previous month and 3.6 pc higher than the 2019 average.

If we take only the first seven months of 2020, the rise is 6.3 pc.

Experts say that there are multiple reasons behind the trend. Since people could move freely in July, they provided a perfect hotbed for the spread of different diseases. Furthermore, those who postponed visiting their doctors due to the coronavirus epidemic did it in from July on. Interestingly, medicine trade rises even though it is still much more difficult to see family doctors than before the virus.

If we analyse regional data, the results show that a lot of people buy their medicines in the suburbs instead of Budapest, but this effect weakens with every passing month. Thus, it is not surprising that the rise continued in the sector everywhere in the country instead of only Pest county. The increase in the medicine trade was

especially significant around Lake Balaton since many spent their holiday at the “Hungarian Sea”.

What did Hungarians buy?

They bought mostly anti-infectious products, for example, antibiotics and antivirus medicines. Interestingly, people bought lower amounts of antibiotics in spring because of the distance keeping measures but, after such restrictions were lifted, the number of bacterial infections started to increase quickly. It is thrilling how COVID affected the spread of other diseases.

Therefore, experts say that, in the coming weeks, the demand for antibiotics and antivirus products will continue to increase since schools enhance the chance for the spread of infectious diseases.

September 17, 2020

This is how hospital waiting lists in Hungary look like before the second COVID-19 peak

jahn ferenc hospital kórház budapest dél pesti 2019

With most waiting lists having radically or moderately increased since June, Hungarian hospitals could face a major challenge as the second wave of the pandemic is expected to hit the elderly again.

As written on Menedzsment Fórum, even though hospitals are not as heavily burdened now as they were during the first wave of COVID-19, this could change in a few weeks when, after predominantly young cases, the pandemic is expected to reach the elderly again.

And this is not the only issue hospitals are expected to tackle with these days. Seeing how hard the first wave of COVID-19 hit the healthcare system, hospitals are still suffering from long waiting lists for many different kinds of surgeries. According to data from the National Health Insurance Fund (Egészségbiztosítási Alapkezelő), apart from only a few exceptions, many waiting lists are still getting longer and longer.

The most dramatic increase in waiting lists has been reported for cataract surgery (the number of patients increased to 10,421 from 259 in June).

Numbers have also significantly increased for hip replacements (4,458 from 4,038), spinal surgery (81 from 48), laparoscopic gynaecological surgery (60 from 34), and thyroid surgery (51 from 4).

A slight increase was reported in areas such as cardiac catheterisation (1,613 from 1,510), inguinal hernia surgery (667 from 522), open-heart surgery (612 from 582), and laparoscopic cholecystectomy (583 from 441).

The good news is that some waiting lists got actually shorter in the last couple of months: these are surgeries for enlarged prostate (only 76 patients are on the waitlist as opposed to 652 in June), tonsillectomy (568 from 789), and sinus surgery (99 from 108).

But despite some shortened lists and more moderate growth in some others, the number of patients waiting for surgery has in overall increased. If we combine this with the coming second wave – and with the request of Miklós Kásler, Minister of Human Capacities, to free up 10,000 hospital beds for COVID-19 patients, Hungarian health institutions could be just ahead of even more challenging times.

Read alsoHungary’s chief medical officer orders nationwide ban on hospital visits

September 17, 2020

UK – highest rise in coronavirus cases today, only 46 pc of workplaces enable safe social distancing

Coronavirus cases on Sunday soared in Britain by more than 3,000 in the highest rise on a Sunday since mid-May. Menawhile, less than half of workplaces in Britain enable safe COVID-19 social distancing, a survey released by the Trades Union Congress (TUC) has revealed.

As of 09:00 a.m. (0800 GMT) on Sunday, there have been a further 3,330 lab-confirmed cases of coronavirus in the country, according to the latest government figures.
It followed a further 3,497 cases which were confirmed on Saturday, also the highest rise on a Saturday since May.

Overall,

368,504 cases have been confirmed by the British government.

The government dashboard also said a further five people had died within 28 days of testing positive for COVID-19 as of Sunday. This brings Britain’s total to 41,628.

Separate figures published by the British statistics agencies showed that there have now been 57,400 deaths registered in Britain where COVID-19 was mentioned on the death certificate. The figures were revealed at a time when countries, such as Britain, China, Russia and the United States, are engaged in a race against time to develop a vaccine for the new coronavirus.

Less than half of workplaces in Britain enable safe COVID-19 social distancing, a survey released by the Trades Union Congress (TUC) has revealed.

In the survey of over

2,100 workers, only 46 percent said their places of work had enabled safe social distancing,

with people in low-paid and insecure jobs the worse affected. According to the survey, 27 percent of low-income workers who earn less than 15,000 pounds a year (about 19,226 U.S. dollars), report that no action has been taken by employers to reduce the risk of coronavirus infections.

It also revealed just 38 percent of workers said their employers have carried out COVID-19 secure risk assessments even though it’s a legal requirement, and only

42 percent of workers reported being given adequate personal protective equipment.

“Making sure workplaces are safe is key to preventing the spread of COVID-19 and getting our economy back on its feet,” said TUC general secretary Frances O’Grady.
New lockdown rules are being introduced in England and Scotland from Monday limiting people to meeting in no more than groups of six, but workplaces are remaining open.

Featured image: illustration

September 13, 2020

Coronavirus – Four die, registered infections up 484 in Hungary

Four Covid-19 patients, all with underlying illnesses, have died, while the number of registered coronavirus infections in Hungary has risen by 484 to 12,309 over the past 24 hours, koronavirus.gov.hu said on Sunday morning.

The number of fatalities stands at 637, and 4,069 people have made a recovery.

There are 7,603 active infections and 282 Covid-19 patients are being treated in hospital, 16 on ventilators.

Altogether 26,531 people are in official home quarantine and

537,897 tests have been carried out.

The site warned Hungarians to observe social distancing guidelines and hygiene regulations.

The government closed borders to foreigners from Sept 1, with certain exceptions, re-introducing border protection measures in force during the first wave of the epidemic.

Most infections have been registered in Budapest (5,330), followed by Pest County (1,752) and the counties of Fejer (697), Komarom-Esztergom (454), Hajdu-Bihar (460) and Gyor-Moson-Sopron (394). Bekes County has the fewest infections (76).

September 13, 2020

Budapest to receive government money to reduce cancer diagnosis time to 10 days

péterfy hospital Budapest Hungarian health care system

Starting this October, healthcare institutions in Budapest will start receiving government money to increase the capacity of CT and MRI machines, in an attempt to cut the long waiting lists of cancer patients. In exchange, institutions will be obliged to provide a diagnosis within ten days.

As part of the Healthy Budapest Programme (Egészséges Budapest Program), Budapest is entitled to receive HUF 50 billion (EUR 140 million) from the government, to be spent on the development of the local healthcare system in the next five years, reports Azonnali. Gábor Havasi, the healthcare counsellor of the local government of Budapest, says that the agreement was concluded in more peaceful times, “before cuts were introduced on financial resources due to COVID-19 and controversies around the Chain Bridge“.

Currently, patients with tumour and some other health problems are bound to endure long waiting lists as there is a lack of resources to increase the capacity of CT and MRI scanners. Besides, the current government regulation only stipulates that patients with suspected tumour must be examined within 14 days, but nothing regulates the time of delivery of medical record to the patients, which can easily take months.

In exchange of increasing the capacity of these machines, the new agreement will require health institutions to provide a medical record within ten days: seven days for the examination, and three days for the delivery of results.

This could bring improvement not only in the case of patients with tumour but also with spinal cord and vertebrae injuries, joint pain, and osteoporosis.

To the question whether this would lead to an increase in the number of unnecessary examinations, Havasi says that this decision would not bring a fundamental change to the healthcare system and that doctors will continue to make decisions based on professional considerations – the recent decision will just quicken up the whole process.

The new capacities are expected to bring a 30% increase in patient diagnosis in 2020: while in 2019, the number of CT scans was 36,000, in 2020, this could increase to 68,000. As regards MRI scans, an increase from 16,000 to 26,000 is expected.

Of the EUR 140 million, the Budapest government will spend EUR 5.6 million on the CT, and MRI scans this year. This sum is divided among the districts based on various factors such as population, and the number of patients diagnosed with cancer – purely professional criteria “and not political interests”, says Havasi. According to Azonnali, the area that will receive the most considerable contribution, of EUR 451,330, is district 11.

But Havasi warns that no one should expect a drastic change in October already: since several institutions will require procurement to conclude an agreement, capacities are expected to increase gradually across the 23 districts.

surgeon, emigration, health doctor healthcare

Read alsoDevastating facts about the Hungarian healthcare system revealed

September 10, 2020

Minister: Hungary launches standalone lung transplant programme

Hungary has started operating its own lung transplant programme independently of the Vienna Medical University’s transplant centre, the human resources minister said on Thursday.

Lung transplant surgeries have been performed on Hungarian patients in Hungary since 2015, but those have been carried out in collaboration with the Vienna centre, Miklós Kásler told a press conference.

“It has been the joint ambition of the profession to implement a domestic lung transplant programme,” he said.

Since 1996, lung transplants have been performed at the Vienna University on Hungarian patients by medical teams composed mainly of Hungarian doctors, Kásler said.

The first lung transplant in Hungary was performed in 2015 at the Budapest Semmelweis Medical University’s clinic established at the headquarters of the National Institute of Oncology, the minister said, adding that a total of 92 lung transplant surgeries have been carried out since that year.

A new surgery block will be inaugurated soon at the Oncology Institute, built using 3 billion forints (EUR 8.3m) of state support, Kásler said.

Sándor Mihály, the director for transplants at the Hungary’s National Blood Transfusion Service (OVSZ), noted at the press conference that the domestic lung transplant programme was launched in coordination with Eurotransplant, an international organisation coordinating transplants between eight countries.

This means that Hungarian patients no longer need to be registered on waiting lists in Vienna but may receive a donor lung offered directly to Hungary by Eurotransplant, he said. Currently, 16 Hungarian patients are awaiting lung transplants, he added.

Read alsoHungarian surgeon performed Europe’s first lung transplantation on a coronavirus patient

September 10, 2020