Tens of thousands of Hungarians are on long medical waiting lists due to backlogs in a corrupt healthcare system. Investigative reporters found the Hungarian government of Victor Orban spent hundreds of millions of euros on unused medical equipment during the COVID-19 pandemic, with public money ending up in the pockets of shady businessmen.
In Romania, recent indictments highlight the role of healthcare workers in diverting funds from patient care. In Poland, the state paid tens of millions of euros to an arms dealer for medical equipment that, in part, was never delivered. While in the Czech Republic, public tenders during the pandemic were corruptly steered to businesses selling unlicensed respirators.
New evidence shows that asbestos is killing even twice as many people as we previously thought it was. In 2019 alone, almost 240 thousand people died from asbestos exposure. 90 730 cases were registered in the EU and UK. But disposing asbestos is an uphill battle. What can we do about it?
Krzysztof Story
Hungary, Slovakia, and the Czech Republic are once again showing disregard for European solidarity, negotiating deals for Eastern vaccines, even at the price of sparking government crises.
Despite the celebration of “the end or the coronavirus crisis” in July, the Czech Republic is at the moment of writing the world’s most infected country per capita with around 15,000 people daily reported to have the virus.
Slovak authorities underestimated the second wave of the pandemic and walked straight into it, unprepared.
Even though the government has been trying to stress that they have prepared for the second wave of the pandemic, daily figures released in recent days appear to contradict this. Meanwhile, football, Viktor Orbán’s favorite sport, still attract crowds.
Gabriella Horn
Instead of dealing with the pandemic, Poland’s leaders try to cover it up with one distraction after another: the presidential campaign, the reconstruction of the government, the fight for power inside the coalition, controversial bills.
Krzysztof Story
