Radio România Internațional

Tag: Health Minister Alexandru Rafila

  • Investments in medical infrastructure

    Investments in medical infrastructure

    The health infrastructure in Romania has always been a topic of public interest and, therefore, speculated by politicians. After in almost 35 years since the Revolution of 1989 only 4 hospitals were built in Romania, yesterday the Bucharest Government signed a new contract for the construction of a regional hospital: the Craiova Regional Emergency Hospital, a massive project, which includes an eight-story building, over 800 beds for hospitalized patients, 19 operating rooms, 38 spaces for diagnostic and treatment services, as well as almost 1,600 of parking spaces.

    The Romanian Prime Minister Marcel Ciolacu has stated that with this project the Bucharest administration manages to wash away what he calls a “national shame” and to start the construction of the long-awaited regional hospitals.

    Marcel Ciolacu: “On February 28, we signed the contracts for the two regional hospitals in Iasi and Cluj, and today we are signing the contract for the third Regional Emergency Hospital in Craiova. The Regional Hospital in Craiova will serve the entire southwest region of Romania and will offer highly complex healthcare services, using the latest technology for diagnosis and treatment. The regional hospital will be able to treat over 800 people per day. (…) The three regional hospitals in Iasi , Cluj and Craiova will mean a step forward for the Romanian health system”.

    The Romanian Minister of Health Alexandru Rafila says that currently there are many ongoing projects in the health system financed by the National Recovery and Resilience Plan, as well as from other sources.

    Alexandru Rafila: “All these projects are not blocked, they are ongoing, and Romania currently has a rapidly developing hospital infrastructure. We want these things to be completed and patients in Romania to have access to health services”.

    By making investments, Romania has moved to a new paradigm, said the Minister of European Funds, Adrian Câciu. He has stated that, in total, seven billion euros are available for investments in health. The interdisciplinary medical unit that will be built in Craiova represents an investment of over two billion euros and will serve the counties of Dolj, Olt, Gorj, Mehedinţi and Vâlcea, all located in the Oltenia region, in the southwest of Romania.

    As soon as the mammoth medical units in Iasi, Cluj and Craiova have been completed, the Executive will face the reality of the lack of medical personnel. Although their salaries have increased since 2018 by around 80%, many still leave for Western European countries and deepen the shortage. According to the Administration of Hospitals and Medical Services in Bucharest, Romania currently has a shortage of 15,000 doctors. (MI)

  • July 23, 2023 UPDATE

    July 23, 2023 UPDATE

    Patients. Belgium will continue to treat patients with severe burns from Romania. An agreement on this matter will be signed soon, the Minister of Health in the Bucharest government, Alexandru Rafila, has announced. He has also stated that, at national level, the number of beds in hospitals for major burns will increase from 30 to 50, with support from the World Bank.



    Wildfires. Dozens of Romanian firefighters, stationed in Greece, will participate in extinguishing the strong fires on the island of Rhodes, the Department for Emergency Situations in Bucharest has announced. 30,000 locals and tourists from this island were evacuated to safer places, 3,000 of them by water. The countrys fire service has described the fires as the most difficult right now. Firefighters are battling flames fueled by strong winds amid a heat wave that has hit most of Europe. According to the authorities, tourists are being safely evacuated from the affected areas and are being redirected to other hotels on the island.



    Vessel. The training ship “Mircea” of the Romanian Navy will dock, on Monday, in the Port of Izmir in Turkey. It will make a stopover until Thursday, during which it will have the mission of promoting the maritime values ​​and traditions of Romania. The diplomatic mission of Romania, through the General Consulate in Izmir, planned during the stopover in the port of Izmir visits of the crew and cadets on board to the tourist attractions in the area, official meetings of the ships commander with the local public authorities, as well as a reception on board the ship, with guests from among the diplomats, civil and military authorities in the region. The ship has a crew of 145 people and is conducting an international training march in the Black Sea until July 31. The ships crew includes 64 second-year students of the “Mircea cel Bătrân” Naval Academy in Constanta (south-east, on the Black Sea) and 10 foreign cadets from partner academies in Bulgaria, Poland, Latvia, Turkey, Italy and Spain. “Mircea” has so far called in the ports of Piraeus in Greece and Taranto in Italy.



    AUR. The Alliance for the Union of Romanians (AUR, in opposition in the Bucharest Parliament) has launched its candidates for next years European Parliament elections. Among them are the senator Claudiu Târziu, president of the National Management Council of the party, the MEP Cristian Terheş, elected in 2019 on the lists of another party, or the entrepreneur Mugur Mihăescu, a former non-professional comedy actor, who gained notoriety playing the role of an idiot policeman named Garcea. Before 1989, Mihăescu was a collaborator of the Securitate, the political police of the communist dictatorship. The average age of AUR candidates to the European Parliament is 45 years, and almost half of the list was reserved for women. The decision to announce the candidates for the European Parliament about a year before the election date is a challenge for the electoral competitors and a test of transparency towards the voters, who have 11 months to get to know those who are asking for their votes – the Alliance for the Union of Romanians has stated. The elections for the representatives of the member states of the Union in the European Parliament will take place between June 6-9, 2024.



    Ukraine. The Secretary General of the North Atlantic Alliance, Jens Stoltenberg, has convened for Wednesday, at the request of Kyiv, a meeting of the NATO-Ukraine Council. This will take place at the level of ambassadors and will focus on consultations on the latest developments, including the transport of Ukrainian grain through the Black Sea – said the spokesperson for the Alliance, the Romanian Oana Lungescu. Shortly before the announcement, Stoltenberg had a phone conversation with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, after which he wrote on Twitter: “We strongly condemn Moscows attempt to make a weapon out of food.” For his part, Zelensky said that he identified, together with the Secretary General of NATO, future measures for unblocking and supporting the grain corridor through the Black Sea.



    Rowing. Romania ended the World Rowing Under-23 Championships in Plovdiv (Bulgaria) with two gold medals. The Romanian athletes won the double sculls on Sunday, and the quadruple sculls on Saturday. In the medal ranking, our country took sixth place. At the World Under-23 Championships in 2022, hosted by Varese (Italy), Romania won three medals: gold in the womens double sculls, silver in the womens quadruple sculls and bronze in the mens double sculls.



    Tennis. Romanian tennis player Ana Bogdan won the BCR Iasi Open (WTA 125) tournament, with 100,000 euros in prize money, for the second year in a row. She defeated her compatriot Irina Begu, 6-2, 6-3, in the final on Sunday. In the doubles final, the Romanians Irina Bara and Monica Niculescu were defeated by the Slovenians Veronika Erjavec and Dalila Jakupovic, 6-4, 6-4. (MI)


  • July 23, 2023

    July 23, 2023

    Patients. Belgium will continue to treat patients with severe burns from Romania. An agreement on that will be signed soon, the Minister of Health in the Bucharest government, Alexandru Rafila, has announced. He has also stated that, at national level, the number of beds in hospitals for major burns will increase from 30 to 50, with support from the World Bank.



    AUR. The Alliance for the Union of Romanians (AUR, in opposition in the Bucharest Parliament) has launched its candidates for next years European Parliament elections. Among them are the senator Claudiu Târziu, president of the National Management Council of the party, the MEP Cristian Terheş, elected in 2019 on the lists of another party, or the entrepreneur Mugur Mihăescu, a former non-professional comedy actor, who gained notoriety playing the role of an idiot policeman named Garcea. Before 1989, Mihăescu was a collaborator of the Securitate, the political police of the communist dictatorship. The average age of AUR candidates to the European Parliament is 45 years, and almost half of the list was reserved for women. The decision to announce the candidates for the European Parliament about a year before the election date is a challenge for the electoral competitors and a test of transparency towards the voters, who have 11 months to get to know those who are asking for their votes – the Alliance for the Union of Romanians has stated. The elections for the representatives of the member states of the Union in the European Parliament will take place between June 6-9, 2024.


    Ukraine. The Secretary General of the North Atlantic Alliance, Jens Stoltenberg, has convened for Wednesday, at the request of Kyiv, a meeting of the NATO-Ukraine Council. This will take place at the level of ambassadors and will focus on consultations on the latest developments, including the transport of Ukrainian grain through the Black Sea – said the spokesperson for the Alliance, the Romanian Oana Lungescu. Shortly before the announcement, Stoltenberg had a phone conversation with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, after which he wrote on Twitter: “We strongly condemn Moscows attempt to make a weapon out of food.” For his part, Zelensky said that he identified, together with the Secretary General of NATO, future measures for unblocking and supporting the grain corridor through the Black Sea.



    Vessel. The training ship “Mircea” of the Romanian Navy will dock, on Monday, in the Port of Izmir in Turkey. It will make a stopover until Thursday, during which it will have the mission of promoting the maritime values ​​and traditions of Romania. The diplomatic mission of Romania, through the General Consulate in Izmir, planned during the stopover in the port of Izmir visits of the crew and cadets on board to the tourist attractions in the area, official meetings of the ships commander with the local public authorities, as well as a reception on board the ship, with guests from among the diplomats, civil and military authorities in the region. The ship has a crew of 145 people and is conducting an international training march in the Black Sea until July 31. The ships crew includes 64 second-year students of the “Mircea cel Bătrân” Naval Academy in Constanta (south-east, on the Black Sea) and 10 foreign cadets from partner academies in Bulgaria, Poland, Latvia, Turkey, Italy and Spain. “Mircea” has so far called in the ports of Piraeus in Greece and Taranto in Italy.



    Wildfires. Thousands of people have been evacuated from houses and hotels on the Greek island of Rhodes, due to wildfires. The countrys fire service has described the fires as the most difficult they are currently facing. Firefighters are battling wildfires fueled by strong winds amid a heat wave sweeping across Europe. No injuries have been reported, according to the Ministry of Climate Crisis and Civil Protection in Greece. According to the authorities, tourists are being safely evacuated from the affected areas and are being redirected to other hotels on the island.



    Rowing. Romania has today won the gold medal in the womens double sculls at the World Rowing Under-23 Championships in Plovdiv (Bulgaria). Andrada-Maria Moroşanu and Iulia-Liliana Bălăucă won the race in 06 min 48 sec 50/100. This is the second Romanian gold medal, after the one won on Saturday by the womens quadruple sculls team, made up of Emanuela-Ioana Ciotău, Alexandra Ungureanu, Cristina Drugă and Patricia Cireş. At the World Under-23 Championships in 2022, hosted by Varese (Italy), Romania won three medals: gold in the womens double sculls, silver in the womens quadruple and bronze in the mens double sculls.



    Tennis. Romanians Ana Bogdan and Irina Begu are playing, today, the final of the BCR Iaşi Open tournament (eastern Romania), with 100,000 euros in prize money. Bogdan, number 49 WTA, the reigning champion and second seed at the tournament, qualified in the last act after defeating Raluka Şerban, a Romanian player representing Cyprus, 6-3, 4-6, 6-3. For her part, Begu, ranked 31st in the world and the competitions first seed, defeated the Slovenian Tamara Zidansek 5-7, 6-4, 6-3. (MI)


  • Romanian exports of medicines  temporarily on hold

    Romanian exports of medicines  temporarily on hold

    Romania obtained from the European Commission the right to temporarily suspend the distribution outside the country of certain drugs in the category of oral antibiotics and antipyretics, considering the current epidemiological context and the lack of some drugs on the market. The representatives of the Ministry of Health have explained that the measure will be applied for a period of three months and is intended to ensure the continuity of the availability of these products for the Romanian patients



    The medicines that will no longer be able to be distributed abroad, for a short period of time, are ibuprofen and paracetamol for pediatric use or amoxicillin. The health authorities say that the measure does not affect the export of medicines manufactured by Romanian manufacturers, it only puts on hold the intra-Community distribution of medicines allocated to the Romanian market. The line minister, Alexandru Rafila, says that the decision was taken to avoid a crisis in Romania, because there are countries in Europe where these products are no longer available.



    Health Minister Alexandru Rafila:


    There are no problems and we want to make sure that we will have enough medicines in the next period as well. Of course, they are not necessarily certain brands that we are used to, but that does not mean that there is no similar medicine, with exactly the same composition and exactly the same therapeutic effect. And we, the Ministry of Health, are responsible for doing everything necessary so that people have access to medicines. One doesn’t necessarily need to take strawberry flavored syrup; if there is a pediatric syrup or pediatric suppositories that contain ibuprofen or paracetamol, they are just as good.




    In recent weeks, doctors and patients throughout the country have repeatedly complained about the lack of medicines on the market. Romania is, at this moment, at the top of the wave of respiratory infections this season, and family doctors and those working in emergency units have to deal with a wave of illnesses. People seeing a doctor these days usually have respiratory infections, flu, pneumonia or, in some cases, are infected with several viruses at the same time, including Sars-CoV-2.




    The cases are also numerous among children, the number of respiratory infections increasing significantly in the first week after the start of school.In the meantime, doctors draw attention to the fact that the well-known preventive measures from the pandemic period must still be followed: wearing protective masks, avoiding crowds, ventilating collective spaces and home isolation when the first symptoms of the disease are felt. Vaccination against the flu is still recommended by specialists. Doctors estimate that the flu season could be extended until spring, and the number of respiratory infections will start to decrease only from next month, according to the forecast of the National Institute of Public Health.