ÖÄK-Wutscher: Promises for health care reform must be implemented

2023-10-21 11:15:10

Strengthening public health care must not remain an empty phrase, emphasizes ÖÄK Vice President Edgar Wutscher.

Vienna (OTS) – Three months ago, a package with the aim of strengthening public health was presented at the Summer Council of Ministers. “The federal government’s promise to create 100 additional health insurance positions by the end of the year remains just a promise, because there is currently no concrete implementation in sight,” criticizes Edgar Wutscher, Vice President of the Austrian Medical Association and Chairman of the Federal Curia for resident doctors. ÖGK chairman Andreas Huss recently criticized the fact that this announcement by the Chancellor will certainly not happen this year: “The shortage of statutory health insurance doctors is real and will only get worse if there is a purely announcement policy without concrete action,” warns Wutscher.

The topic of preventive medicine is similarly frustrating: “One had the impression that politicians had recently committed themselves to preventive medicine – how does that fit with the fact that there is no longer a word about the originally planned investment in prevention and health promotion for adolescents and young adults is heard?”, Wutscher wonders: “If the health care reform is to be more than just lip service, then investments must now be made in public health, with preventive medicine as a strong, developed area,” Wutscher appeals to the government.