"What About Medicine? Where Are The Doctors?"
- 22.10.2025, 17:01
A Belarusian woman complained about the lack of an endocrinologist in the city.
A resident of Polotsk could not get to an endocrinologist with her child - there is no such specialist in the city. In order to be examined, she would have to go to another city. "What about medicine? Where are the doctors in Belarus, specifically in Polotsk and in general in the country? People, tell us - where do you treat children, where do you find doctors?" - asked the woman in TikTok.
The problem with access to medical care in the regions of Belarus is raised by BGmedia not for the first time. According to the author of the video, she moved to Polotsk from Russia's Kursk. When her daughter was diagnosed with elevated levels of the hormone prolactin, her pediatrician issued a referral to an endocrinologist in Vitebsk - more than a hundred kilometers from Polotsk. The doctor explained that there were no such specialists in the city. "It's not a cardiac surgeon, not a neurosurgeon. Is an endocrinologist considered a narrow specialist now?" - the woman was indignant.
Later her child went to the hospital with bronchitis. "The pediatrician calls me and says: 'Please bring me a jacket, the girl needs to be taken to the ENT - we don't have an ENT in the hospital.' I did not immediately realize - it is not a doctor going to a sick child, and a sick child is being taken to a doctor. In my opinion, this is overkill. People, wake up!" - said a resident of Polotsk.
It should be noted that Polotsk is the administrative center of Polotsk district of Vitebsk region. The population is about 80 thousand people.
While the child was in the hospital, the referral to an endocrinologist in Vitebsk became invalid. The woman asked for a new one, but the pediatrician said that there would be no appointments until December - both endocrinologists had left for training. Then the mother started to look for paid options. In Minsk, the record opens only in November, but in Navapolatsk an endocrinologist was found - the appointment costs 23 rubles.
The video has gathered more than a thousand comments. Some sympathized with the woman and shared similar experiences, others said that there was no problem, while others aggressively advised to "return to Kursk", accusing the author of "ingratitude".
Commenters also said that Novopolotsk has not had a children's cardiologist for two years: "The answer is simple - there is no specialist, the previous one went to a private clinic". Others suggested radical measures: "The Ministry of Health, headed by the minister, should be resigned. One user threatened: "Already one of them has already done so, then apologized.
"We also go either to Vitebsk or Minsk. Orsha is empty," wrote one of the commentators. Another noted that "14 thousand doctors have gone abroad for good and live there normally."
People also raised a systemic question: "Why are there no doctors for free examinations, while there are doctors for paid ones? These are the same specialists, in the same city."
Others recalled that after 2020, many doctors left the country. "And even before that it was not very good - we have more attention to the material situation and power structures, not doctors and teachers," - stated one user.