As many as 1.4 M Bulgarians have to travel distances more than 50 km to reach a hospital.

Documents of the National Municipality Association, cited by Bulgarian newspaper Trud, reveal that most villages in more remote Bulgarian municipalities have no medical personnel at their disposal.

Transport systems in villages do not facilitate access to hospitals. A vast share of the village population, on the other hand, do not have private vehicles and have to pay many visits to towns and cities for examinations and treatment.

According to the association, many people living in rural areas have decided to ignore their health problems and this is why many live without medical attention to diseases as acute as advanced cancer.

In letters to Bulgarian Health Ministry, the Association has demanded that 40 to 50 of the municipal hospitals across the country receive an "emergency financial injection".

The organization's proposals include grants to municipalities where the number of elderly people exceeds the average for Bulgaria (23.8% in 2012) and unemployment goes beyond the medial level, which is currently at 12.3%.

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