Doctors launch week of protests against health minister

The incident by Mr Macek came at the start of a week of protest actions against the policies of Health Minister David Rath. Doctors, dentists, and pharmacists who are taking part say that the planned events will be mostly symbolic: not restricting care or in any way impacting patients. The week-long protests against the minister's reforms will involve demonstrations and public debates in the three largest cities of Prague, Brno, and Ostrava. The protesters say that the minister's reforms are harming both medical staff as well as patients, in their view worsening the quality of health care in many areas.