EC to Provide 85 Million Euros for Bulgaria's Emergency Medical Aid Service

The European Commission will provide 85 million euro for a project to upgrade the emergency medical aid service in Bulgaria, Health Minister Peter Moskov told a news conference on Sunday. The negotiations with the Commission have been completed and only some details remain to be sorted out, Moskov said.

The money will be used to buy new ambulances and renovate emergency aid centres, which will become active medical units providing diagnosis and in-patient care for up to 24 hours in each case. Emergency reception offices in hospitals will also beupgraded, Moskov said.

When the project is carried out until 2020, all of Bulgaria's 7 million population will have access to emergency medical aid, compared with just 3 million at present. Ambulances will get to any patient for no more than 30 minutes, he said.