Italy's health operators on Monday went on a 24-hour strike to protest against the cuts envisaged in the government's budget plan which is currently being passed by the parliament for final approval. Many hospitals scattered across the country lacked adequate personnel with the result that over 40,000 surgery operations were postponed while thousands of medical visits canceled, reported state-television Rai. Only life-death cases and emergencies were guaranteed by medical staffs. A total of 100 angry doctors, nurses and veterinarians staged a protest in front of the House of parliament which will soon start to exam the budget plan. Dressed in white and armed with banners and trumpets, the demonstrators complained that the expenditure cuts will greatly affect the efficiency of the health sector by curbing the number of doctors and medical staff. They asked parliament to modify the budget plan by easing the restrictions on turnovers. According to the trade unions, more than 75 percent of doctors, nurses and vets took part in the strike. 'We regret doing this but we are forced,' said Massimo Cozza, head of the leading CGIL union. 'The government's budget will have a drastic effect on the public health sector. There will be 30,000 less doctors in the next four years while all temporary staff will be sent away and this is set to determine an impoverishment of both quality and quantity of services to citizens,' he explained, stressing that waiting lists will lengthen. Health Minister Ferruccio Fazio assured the doctors that the public employees' turnover freeze will not be applied to the health sector, but unions demand more solid guarantees. Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi's government in May approved a 24.9-billion- euro austerity budget aimed at balancing public finances and boosting growth by cutting-down on expenditures. The budget plan arrived at the House on Monday after it was approved last week by the Senate. The exam will start on July 26 and the text is expected to be cleared before the August summer break. The government has put a confidence vote on the budget. Berlusconi has warned that if the parliament failed to approve it he would step-down from office because in his view there is no other alternative to the country's economic revival. 