BUCHAREST — Romania’s prime minister has increased doctors’ and nurses’ wages, among the lowest in Europe, by 25 percent after medics threatened to strike because of a court ruling that they could no longer accept informal payments and gifts.
Victor Ponta approved the raise Wednesday, urging more reforms in the health system. ‘‘If it were possible, I would have raised [salaries] by 100, 200, 300 percent, with all my heart because it is correct,’’ he said. The health system is one of the last areas to be reformed in Romania. The increase is effective Oct. 1.
For years, doctors and nurses have depended on ‘‘the envelope’’ — bribes and informal payments slipped into the pockets of their white jackets. Gifts including chickens, fresh fish, and liquor were also customary.
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Some 7,000 doctors have emigrated in the past four years due to low pay, low morale, and a lack of investment in the system.