Hungary's government has announced a pay rise of 40 percent for doctors and pharmacists over two years in an effort to stem the mass exodus of medical staff, in particular to Britain.
They will be paid between 50,000 and 107,000 HUF extra per month from later this year and a similar amount from 2017, Zoltan Balog, Minister for Health, has confirmed.
Other staff in the central European country's public health sector will get 30,000 HUF or 25 percent more each month and will see their pay "double" by 2019, Balog said.
"To the 100,000 employees in the health sector the main message is that we are counting on you," Balog said, adding that the 100 billion HUF cost has already been budgeted for over the two years.
Healthcare in the ex-communist EU member state has been under strain for years, in particular because many staff have left for Western Europe where they can earn much higher salaries.
However, the government has announced a significant budget increase for healthcare throughout Hungary in 2017.
Istvan Eger, president of Hungary's medical professionals association, called the pay rise agreement with the government "the result of lots of hard work, at the end of which all sides can be happy."