From the position of a civil organization that works entirely for the benefit of children's healthcare, this moment is not an occasion for final assessments, but for a careful look at the pre-election promises and requests, as well as maintaining one key attitude: healthcare is non-partisan. The For Good Foundation has existed and will continue to exist with a mission that believes in cooperation with institutions and experts who have the will to work for a better system.

The program of "Progressive Bulgaria" in the "Healthcare" sector outlines a framework that includes increasing public funding, stricter control over costs, reducing co-payments from patients and reforming the way in which medical activities are valued. These are topics that are not new to the system, but are persistently unresolved. In this sense, the question is not whether the direction is right, but whether it will be consistently carried out...

Also interesting is the emphasis on moving activities from hospital to outpatient care. A step that has been recommended for years by experts and international analyses, which, if implemented, could change the balance in the system, which currently remains heavily hospital-oriented.

No health policy can be successful without a sustainable solution to the staffing problem. The proposed measures – fairer pay, programs to retain young specialists, structured career development – are mantras that are empty of content if they do not have a clear and sustainable plan for implementation.

Children's healthcare has been declared a priority. A commitment has been made both through the construction of the National Children's Hospital and through the development of specialties, centers for rare diseases, improvement of emergency care and investments in prevention and early diagnosis. Children's healthcare has long remained on the periphery of systemic reforms, and its placement as a strategic priority has not seemed to be on the agenda.

If this happens, we will see an opportunity for real change, but only if this request is followed by clear standards, sustainable financing and reforms, which require political will. Now there is a majority. Let's see if they will have the will.

If, if…

Time has the property of showing and repeating. To repeat both the good and the bad. Trust is not built with declarations. Therefore, it is important that the processes are as transparent as possible, professionally reasoned and open to the participation of the expert and civil community.

All signs of a healthy, functioning and democratic civil society. Change in healthcare rarely comes suddenly. It happens gradually through decisions and consistent steps that shape it over time.

Time will tell. Until then, patience and work for the cause of better child healthcare in Bulgaria...