Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya: “Medical professionals are people who take responsibility for human life and health every day. Their work requires extraordinary dedication: years of study and training to acquire the necessary knowledge and skills, and every working day demands patience, professionalism, and courage.
On top of that, being a healthcare worker in Belarus today means working amid chronic staff shortages, excessive workloads, and administrative pressure. One study found that 68% of doctors in Belarus are dissatisfied with their working conditions. Every year, the number of hospitals in the country declines, there is a shortage of doctors and essential medicines, and many specialists are forced to leave the profession or move abroad.
Instead of supporting healthcare workers, the regime increasingly treats them as a resource that can be used without limits. Belarusian doctors regularly work far beyond the established norm, face unpaid overtime, and carry a heavy bureaucratic burden. Those who want to change jobs or leave the country encounter additional obstacles. And when they raise legitimate concerns about difficult working conditions, they are told, ‘Do not complain about working more than eight hours a day. You work as much as necessary’.
This is not how people who devote themselves every day to saving others’ lives should be treated. Being a doctor means serving others and finding the strength, day after day, to help people.
The regime cannot understand that. But Belarusians do.
Your work is of immense value, and your service to people deserves respect and support. Thank you, dear medical professionals”.
