AROUND 39 percent of Slovaks have bribed a doctor in the past five years. Some of those have resorted to bribery several times. The MVK agency poll, carried out on behalf of the daily SME, reveals, ironically, that the elderly and those on low incomes are most likely to bribe a doctor.
The reason appears to be a lack of money for medicine. Sixty-nine percent of pensioners said they do have enough money for medicine and 53 percent said the price of medicine is not affordable to them at all. "There are about 4,200 types of medicine for which people either do not have to pay at all or must make a contribution of only Sk20(€0.51)," he said.