Radio România Internațional

Tag: medical system

  • January 6, 2024

    January 6, 2024

    MEDICAL SYSTEM – The College of
    Physicians in Bucharest warns against the critical shortage of medical
    personnel and calls on the authorities to lift the freeze on vacancies in the
    medical system. At present, the system faces a severe shortage of healthcare
    professionals, particularly in Bucharest, where some 900 vacancies are
    unfilled. In a press release, the Administration of Hospitals and Medical
    Services also warned that neglecting the crisis and the draconic cuts to
    hospital budgets endanger patients’ lives.




    WAR IN GAZA – Hezbollah has
    launched dozens of missiles against a military base in northern Israel,
    describing the attack as retaliation to the killing of the 2nd-highest
    ranking leader of Hamas in a surgical strike on the southern outskirts of
    Beirut. Israel however did not claim responsibility for the attack. On the
    other hand, the UN coordinator for Gaza warned the territory has become uninhabitable.
    Three months since the horrific 7 October attacks, Gaza has become a place of
    death and despair. […]Its people are witnessing daily threats to their very
    existence – while the world watches on, the UN Under-Secretary-General for
    Humanitarian Affairs, Martin Griffiths has said. In turn, UNICEF said that
    after three months of war, malnutrition and disease in the Gaza Strip creates
    a deadly cycle that threatens over 1.1 million children.




    CELEBRATION – On January 6,
    Orthodox Christians celebrate the Baptism of Jesus, seen as his manifestation
    to the world as the Son of God. In the Roman-Catholic Church this day is known
    as the Epiphany, which also commemorates the visit of the Magi, and the wedding
    at Cana. Christians attending mass on this day receive holy water, a symbol of
    the baptism of Jesus in the waters of Jordan.




    STATISTICS – Romanians have
    become the most numerous national minority in Germany, according to official
    statistics published by local authorities. Over 2015-2022, the number of
    Romanians now living in this country doubled, to reach nearly 900,000.
    Romanians thus outrank Poles, who are almost quite as numerous, and the Italian
    national minority, totaling some 650,000 people. The latest official data
    published last year by the Romanian Foreign Ministry indicates that some 5,7
    million Romanians are currently living abroad.




    VISIT – Spain’s Prime
    Minister Pedro Sánchez is expected to visit Romania for talks on the double
    citizenship. Sources within the Spanish Government says a new agreement will
    set the terms for obtaining the Romanian-Spanish citizenship, while the Spanish
    official is expected to visit Romania to sign the document. An invitation was
    allegedly extended by Prime Minister Marcel Ciolacu on the sidelines of last
    year’s visit to Malaga. Some 629,000 Romanians are currently living in Spain,
    and will be targeted by this measure. The initiative was discussed on the joint
    government session hosted by Castellón
    de la Plana in November 2023, which also laid out a timetable and set up
    bilateral committees working on this project. Spain currently provides double
    citizenship only to citizens of France and Portugal.




    HANDBALL
    – The Romanian men’s handball team defeated Argentina 30-23 in its second match
    in the Yellow Cup, hosted by Winterthur. In the other match played that day, Switzerland
    trounced Bosnia Herzegovina 39-21. On Thursday, Romania lost to Switzerland
    37-31. Yellow Cup is the final test before the European Championship hosted by
    Germany over January 10-28. The first two teams in each group advance to the
    main group phase. Romania had last played in the European Championship in 1996.
    (VP)



  • January 5, 2024

    January 5, 2024

    CONTESTS
    – Romanian Prime Minister Marcel Ciolacu has promised to solve the problem of
    resident doctors who took the specialty exam last year as quickly as possible.
    In the first government session of 2024, the Prime Minister said he doesn’t
    want these physicians to leave searching for jobs abroad, and called on the
    relevant authorities to take action so as to hold vacancy-filling contests.
    Both USR in opposition and the Administration of Hospitals and Medical Services
    in Bucharest complained about medical personnel shortage, accusing the ruling
    coalition of having brought the medical system to the brink of imminent
    collapse by ignoring the crisis in the medical system or by operating draconic
    cuts to hospital budgets, thus endangering patients’ lives.




    INFLATION
    – The National Bank of Romania expects an annual inflation rate of over 6% for
    December, Central Bank spokesman Dan Suciu told Radio Romania. The inflation
    rate showed signs of slowing down in November, when it dropped from 8% the
    previous month to 6.7%. Dan Suciu believes early 2024 will determine an
    increase in the inflation rate as the new fiscal measures took effect starting
    January 1, but says it will go down at the end of the first quarter. External
    factors greatly impact prices, for instance tensions in the Middle East affect
    fuel prices, Dan Suciu also argues.




    AGREEMENT
    – Bulgaria, Romania and Turkey are expected to sign a joint agreement for
    demining operations in the Black Sea. Bulgaria’s Defense Minister Todor Tagarev
    said the agreement has long been in the making, and the parties have finally
    agreed on the final details. The agreement will be signed next week and
    provides for the creation of a trilateral demining task force in the Black Sea.
    Since the launch of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, a lot of maritime mines
    have exploded in the Black Sea, the latest such incident involving a Greek
    vessel in December.




    ROMANIA -
    UKRAINE – Representatives of Romania and Ukraine have signed an agreement
    for developing relations in the field of digitization and cyber-security, the
    Ministry of Research, Innovation and Digitization reports. The agreement will
    serve as the foundation for a new mechanism whereby the European Union will
    fund technology and know-how transfer projects in Ukraine under Romania’s
    coordination. The goals are to increase resilience and protect digital
    infrastructure in Ukraine and Romania, to consolidate the level of
    cyber-security for the infrastructure grids of Ukraine and Romania, to develop
    cloud infrastructures for electronic public services and to exchange know-how
    in terms of developing policies in the field of electronic communications and
    emerging technologies.




    JAPAN EARTHQUAKE – Rescue teams are
    still searching for the 242 people that went missing in the wake on the New
    Year’s devastating earthquake in Japan. The critical period of 72 hours for
    finding survivors ended yesterday. The number of casualties of the 7.6
    Richter-scale quake in the Noto peninsula went up to 92. Japan has doubled the
    number of military troops taking part in search and rescue operations to 4,600.




    HANDBALL
    – The Romanian men’s team is today playing Argentina on the second day of
    Yellow Cup, hosted by Winterthur. Yesterday, Romania lost 37-31 to Switzerland.
    Yellow Cup is the final test ahead of the EHF EURO 2024, where Romania will
    play in Group B alongside Spain, Austria and Croatia. Spain was vice-champion
    in 2022, Austria defeated Romania in both preliminary fixtures while Croatia
    played the final in 2020. The top two teams in each group will advance to the
    main group phase. Romania had last qualified to a European Championship in
    1996. (VP)

  • Old practices in Romania’s Medical System

    Old practices in Romania’s Medical System

    Bribe-taking is a phenomenon that seems to be plaguing Romanian hospitals for ever. Possible solutions to this scourge aren’t being applied and serious cases have been identified in which doctors are conditioning medical interventions on these ‘material incentives’ they get from their patients. Authorities have raised salaries in the Romanian medical system in an attempt to stop the exodus of trained medical personnel lured by higher pay and better working conditions abroad. Salaries for doctors have seen a significant jump, from several hundred Euros several years ago to several thousand Euros nowadays. Nurses are also getting better pay than in the past.



    The shameful issue of bribery started making headlines again after several doctors from the Orthopedic Ward of the Emergency Hospital in Piatra Neamt, north-eastern Romania, were accused of taking money for working out retirement-files allowing people to retire before their retirement age as well as for a series of other medical procedures. Some of those involved were apprehended on Tuesday night. Another bribery case involving a physician was reported in 2015. The physician involved was indicted for corruption and had his license removed but he later resumed activity at the Emergency Hospital in Piatra Neamt. Romanian Health Minister Sorina Pintea on Tuesday said that a campaign against under-the-table payment in hospitals across Romania was going to be run. The Romanian minister believes that this kind of payment should not exist in any medical unit, describing it as a shortcoming of the country’s medical system. The minister wants to convince both patients and the medical staff to avoid getting involved in this phenomenon.



    Sorina Pintea: “We know very well that this kind of under-the-table payment exists and it is still being practiced. The latest pay rises should have diminished this phenomenon, but that didn’t happen. I believe we need more time to be able to control this phenomenon; it all boils down to education, the patient’s education or the education of their relatives. This is happening between the patient and the doctor, so we cannot intervene. All we can say is the situation isn’t normal. Various campaigns have commenced in hospitals and maybe we are going to begin one jointly with the unions because we all must assume this issue. It’s an issue affecting the system, so it’s also our issue.”



    Bribery is not the only issue affecting Romania’s medical system. Last year in May, the former head the country’s main anti-corruption agency DNA, Laura Codruta Kovesi made public a report on corruption in Romania’s health system. According to the report, this phenomenon is affecting five departments including public procurement, hospital budgets and medical services. The report shows that the phenomenon cannot be contained only through investigations. Certain procedures need to be changed and certain control mechanisms should be set up.