Radio România Internațional

Tag: vaccination bill

  • July 24-29

    July 24-29

    Campaign for the immunization of children


    In Romania over 220 thousand children aged between nine months and nine years have not yet received the anti-measles vaccine, according to a report made public by the Health Ministry. The Ministry has made an evaluation of the National Vaccination Programme, and found that the shortage of anti-measles shots that can be used in case of an epidemic is one of its weak points. The authorities and the public radio are conducting an information campaign on vaccination, after 30 children have died of measles. Fearing possible side effects the vaccine may have, some of the parents refuse to vaccinate their children. Prime Minister Mihai Tudose says that the state institutions, the Child Protection Authority included, should have a say in this matter, and that parents who refuse to immunize their children are in fact putting their lives in danger. Physician Sandra Alexiu, the vice-president of the National Society of Family Physicians, says that a high vaccination rate can only be achieved if there are sufficient vaccine supplies, which has not been the case in the past few years. According to the Health Ministry, the measles epidemic facing Romania is the effect of a drop in the vaccination rate in Romania over the last ten years.



    Romania bids to host the European Medicines Agency


    A small Romanian government delegation went to London on Monday to plead for the relocation of the European Medicines Agency (EMA) to Bucharest, after Brexit. Romanian authorities are trying to prove that Bucharest is prepared to host the Agency and have presented their relocation offer in London. Also competing to become hosts of EMA are France, Sweden, Denmark, Hungary and Bulgaria, which have already presented their offers. Moreover, London itself would like to keep hosting the agency, even after Brexit.



    The Government gives up the introduction of new taxes


    The leftist Social Democratic Party (PSD), the main party in the government coalition in Romania, made significant changes to the governing programme after the installation, a month ago, of a new cabinet headed by Mihai Tudose. Most of these changes targeted the fiscal area. One of them provided that Romanian businesses were to pay their taxes based on their turnover rather than their profit. A measure also included in the governing programme was the solidarity tax, which was supposed to apply to high-income taxpayers. Both measures have been given up, the first one over fears that it could prove disastrous for the business environment and generate a wave of negative consequences. The leftist Government has also given up the solidarity tax. According to Prime Minister Mihai Tudose, “its contribution to the budget would be minimal.” PM Tudose has announced the Government also gives up the idea to have the employees pay their health insurance and pension contributions instead of the employer. This controversial measure would have yielded no results either, as shown bysimulations conducted in this respect. Representatives of the National Liberal Party (PNL), in the opposition, say that this fiscal uncertainty proves once more that the Government has no major project for Romanias development.



    Romania purchases Patriot missiles


    The Romanian Defence Ministry has decided to purchase the Patriot surface-to-air defence system, and should all procedures be completed without problems, in November Romania is due to pay the first instalment for the purchase. In making this decision, the authorities took into account the risks that Romanias air space is facing, the partnership with the USA and the fact that the surface-to-air missiles that Romania has at present are obsolete. Defence Minister Adrian Tutuianu says Romania intends to purchase the latest Patriot configuration, thus strengthening not only Romanias security, but also the security of Europe as a whole. The USA, Germany, Spain, Greece and the Netherlands are also using these systems at present.



    The Magurele laser project, presented officially in Astana


    Romanias stand at Expo 2017 Astana presented, as part of Romanias National Day, the most powerful laser in the world, which is currently being built in Magurele, southern Romania. A number of universities in Kazakhstan have expressed interest in the Romanian project. If agreements are signed with these universities, students and postgraduate students from Kazakhstan will have a chance to work with the research platform in Magurele. Expo 2017 Astana which this year focuses on future energy and enjoys the participation of 100 countries, started on June 10 and is due to end on September 10. It is one of the worlds most important events of public and cultural diplomacy. Organisers hope that Expo 2017 Astana will attract over five million visitors from all over the world.



    Unstable weather in Romania


    Heat waves, storms and strong winds, hail and heavy rain that led to flooding have defined the weather in Romania in the month of July. Meteorologists and hydrologists have issues yellow and orange code alerts for bad weather almost every day for the entire country. For the upcoming period, meteorologists announce drought all across Romania, while hydrologists have warned at the beginning of the week that the level of the Danube at its entrance in Romania is half the multi-annual average of July.




  • July 27, 2017 UPDATE

    July 27, 2017 UPDATE


    LEGISLATION – On Thursday, the Government of Romania discussed a bill on vaccination, which lays down responsibilities for authorities, healthcare staff and parents. The bill is designed to regulate the organisation and financing of vaccination in Romania, and to raise awareness of the benefits, safety, quality and potential adverse reactions of vaccines. The bill also provides for a national reserve stock covering at least the annual needs, with doses valid for at least one and a half years. The bill was drafted after the large number of measles cases and deaths caused by this disease prompted the World Health Organisation to include Romania in the 5 countries that total over 80% of the number of cases reported worldwide.



    INVESTIGATION – The parliamentary commission investigating into the 2009 presidential election in Romania has proposed the two chambers of parliament to notify the Constitutional Court about a legal conflict between Parliament and the Public Ministry. The members of the commission invoke the refusal of the Prosecutor Generals Office to provide a copy of the file on the presidential election case, which has been classified. Both investigations were started following allegations by a controversial journalist, who claims that the result of the 2009 presidential election was influenced by high-ranking public officials, including the heads of some of the most powerful institutions in Romania. The election was won by the right-wing candidate Traian Basescu, to the detriment of the Social Democrat Mircea Geoana.



    EXPO 2017 – The Romanian Foreign Minister Teodor Melescanu is on a visit to Kazakhstan, to take part in the official ceremony occasioned by Romanias Day at Expo 2017 Astana. Future Energy and to mark 25 years of diplomatic relations between the two countries. During talks with Prime Minister Bakytzhan Sagintaev, the two officials voiced their countries interest in further developing bilateral ties, especially with regard to political dialogue and economic cooperation. Also on Thursday, Teodor Melescanu paid a visit to the region of Karaganda, which is home to an important Romanian community. Expo 2017 Astana has gathered participants from 114 countries and is due to end on September 10. Romanias stand will present the most powerful laser in the world, which is currently being built in Magurele, southern Romania.



    MOLDOVA – The Constitutional Court of the Republic of Moldova on Thursday dismissed as unconstitutional a decree signed by the pro-Russian Socialist President Igor Dodon regarding a planned referendum in September. The Court president Tudor Panţâru, quoted by Radio Romania correspondents in Chişinău, said that by signing that decree Dodon breached the Constitution. According to the decree, the referendum scheduled for September 24 was designed to give the President increased powers in order to dismantle Parliament and call early elections. The Moldovan pro-European Liberals challenged the order and notified the Constitutional Court.



    FRAUD – Six people, including four professors, have been detained in Arad, western Romania, in the case dubbed graduation diplomas without studies. In all, 36 people, staff, students and former students of two universities in the city are being prosecuted in this case. Prosecutors say that during the 2015-2016 and 2016-2017 academic years, professors provided some students, with the help of IT specialists, the answers to the online tests they had to take, in exchange for money. According to investigators, some foreign students passed all exams in Romanian, although they could not speak the language at all.



    ART – As part of a Romanian-American cultural exchange project, the National Museum of Maps and Old Books in Bucharest and Blue Hill Art and Cultural Center have put together an exhibition on contemporary American printmakers. The exhibition includes 34 works by 11 American artists. The opening event was held in Bucharest on Thursday.




  • The Week in Review: April 9-15

    The Week in Review: April 9-15

    The private pensions scandal -
    measures and penalties


    The Financial Supervisory
    Authority in Romania on Thursday levelled penalties against NN, the country’s
    biggest private pensions fund for spreading information meant to destabilise
    the pensions system. On Wednesday, NN sent an email to all its clients warning
    about possible measures to nationalise private pensions funds. The leader of
    the Social Democratic Party and speaker of the Chamber of Deputies Liviu
    Dragnea said Parliament would soon take steps to sack the entire management of
    the Financial Supervisory Authority. The Finance Ministry has categorically
    denied plans to nationalise the private pensions funds.



    The Serbian police detain former
    Romanian MP Sebastian Ghita in Belgrade


    The former Romanian MP and
    businessman Sebastian Ghita, who was on an international most wanted fugitives
    list, was tracked and detained by the Serbian police on Thursday night in
    Belgrade four months after his disappearance. The Romanian authorities are now taking
    the necessary action to obtain his extradition. When asked for identification
    by the police, he presented false EU ID. Sebastian Ghita disappeared on the 21st
    of December 2016 and was first named on the country’s most wanted fugitives
    list for breaking the conditions of his bail. On the 10th of
    January, a Supreme Court panel issued a European arrest warrant for Ghita, who
    was then also named on an international most wanted fugitives list through
    Interpol. Ghita is facing trial in two corruption cases and is under criminal
    investigation in two others.



    The unitary pay law is yet to
    be submitted to Parliament


    The submission of the
    much-awaited unitary pay law for public sector employees to Parliament for
    debate and approval has been postponed. The leader of the ruling Social
    Democratic Party and Chamber of Deputies speaker Liviu Dragnea said the bill
    will also remain available for public input this week. The bill provides for an
    increase in monthly incomes by more than 50% over the following five years. The
    planned increases are estimated at more than 7 billion euros in total. Prime
    minister Sorin Grindeanu says the talks with trade unions and the institutions
    targeted by the bill will continue in Parliament to speed up the passing of the
    law. The law, which is supposed to come into force on the 1st of
    July, covers all public institutions with the exception of the National Bank of
    Romania and the Financial Supervisory Authority. The army and police staff are
    the first to benefit from the pay rises. The other categories of public sector
    employees will see their salaries grow as of January next year. The president
    will have the biggest salary in the public system, accounting for 12 minimum
    wages per month. The salaries of the highest dignitaries will drop, while those
    of parliamentarians, judges and prosecutors will go up.



    Vaccination bill is made public


    The Romanian healthcare ministry
    on Tuesday published its new vaccination bill. This provides for the creation of
    county vaccination commissions able to step in if parents refuse the compulsory
    immunisation scheme. Healthcare minister Florian Bodog says a chapter
    containing penalties will also be introduced into the bill after public and
    parliamentary debate. He says his ministry will assume responsibility for the
    treatment of the possible side effects of vaccination. According to the
    ministry, 21 persons have died in Romania from measles. Since last September,
    around 4,000 cases have been reported, according to the National Centre for the
    Communicable Disease Surveillance and Control. To contain the spread of
    measles, medical authorities continue a campaign to vaccinate children aged
    between 9 months and 9 years.



    Government adopts country’s
    decentralisation strategy


    The government adopted the
    country’s decentralisation strategy on Wednesday. Deputy Prime Minister Sevil
    Shhaideh says all ministries will carry out impact studies in the next three
    months and that the sectoral laws regulating the decentralisation process will
    be adopted within the next 7 months at the latest. The areas covered by the
    process are agriculture, culture, tourism, the environment, healthcare,
    education and extracurricular activities, youth and sport. The general goal of
    the strategy is the transfer of new responsibilities, with the exception of
    those relating to inspection and control, to local authorities, namely mayors
    and local and county councils. Many of these responsibilities are currently
    held by the ministries’ decentralised directorates.



    Crowding at border check
    points in Romania



    Traffic is busy at Romania’s border crossing
    points following the implementation, on the 7th of April, of a new
    European regulation tightening border control ahead of the Easter holidays.
    Waiting time at the border varies from one to six hours. The busiest
    checkpoints are in the west of the country. The authorities are trying to
    strike a balance between citizen security and traffic flow and recommend the
    use of all border checkpoints. To support Romanian citizens travelling abroad
    during the Easter holidays, the foreign ministry has made available a travel
    guide containing useful recommendations, information about the most frequented
    tourist destinations at this time of the year, as well as information that can
    help Romanian citizens avoid possible unpleasant situations that may appear
    during their stay abroad.

  • The Vaccination Bill under Public Scrutiny

    The Vaccination Bill under Public Scrutiny


    The Healthcare Ministrys proposed vaccination bill is available for public input as of Tuesday. Under the new bill, when entering their children into nurseries and schools, parents must produce proof that the children were given the compulsory vaccines. Otherwise, parents are obliged to present a vaccination schedule within the next 60 days or a doctors note stating the medical side effects of certain vaccines. Nurseries and schools must request a note from the family doctor that children received compulsory vaccination and must not allow children who have not been vaccinated to attend classes during an epidemic confirmed by the Public Health Directorate.



    A vaccination commission is also to be created in each county to identify the children who have not received their vaccines, provide counselling to parents and establish a vaccination schedule. In the case of 3-year-olds who have not received their compulsory vaccination, the commissions will inform the relevant institutions to establish the offence of child maltreatment by parents.



    Although the version of the bill proposed by the health ministry does not contain penalties for parents, this will change, says healthcare minister Florian Bodog:


    “The bill available for public input does not contain penalties, but we all know that for a law to be applied and have an effect, penalties are also needed. These penalties will be formulated after public consultation and discussions within the health committees in the Senate and the Chamber of Deputies.”



    A new vaccination law is welcome, given the current measles epidemic that broke out last autumn. More than 4,000 people have contracted the disease and over 20 have died as a result. An advisor to the healthcare minister, Alexandru Rafila has emphasised how important it is to vaccinate children against measles:


    “Why did all these people get sick? Because the measles virus has been spreading among children aged between 1 and 5 who have not received vaccination. This also poses a risk for children under 1, who are not protected by vaccination.”



    To increase vaccination rates, experts recommend measures such as a constant supply of all types of vaccines, penalising the persons guilty of unjustified delays in the provision of vaccines and organising public information campaigns.




  • Childhood Vaccines: Law and Practice

    Childhood Vaccines: Law and Practice


    Romania is witnessing a disquieting fall in the child vaccination rate, which prompted the authorities to draw up legislation constraining parents to get their children immunised against some of the most dangerous infectious diseases, the head of the Romanian Microbiology Society Alexandru Rafila announced last spring. The statement came amid reports pointing to diphtheria cases in Europe both in 2015 and 2016, some of them even resulting in child deaths, to cases of polio in neighbouring Ukraine and to an epidemic hotbed in Romania itself.



    The beginning of the year found Romania struggling with a measles outbreak, with 2,300 cases and 15 deaths reported in January. And the situation is getting worse, partly because of the countrywide shortage of some of the vaccines.



    The Healthcare Ministry is now working on a bill making vaccination compulsory. If the bill is signed into law, 9 vaccines will be compulsory: against hepatitis B, diphtheria, tetanus, whooping cough, polio, measles, mumps, rubella and tuberculosis. These vaccines will be included in a list of requirements for enrollment in kindergartens and schools. Exceptions will only be permitted if families bring medical proof that there are contraindications for a specific vaccine in their case.



    The bill will be posted for public debate within a month, said the Healthcare Minister Florian Bodog, and the date when the programme is launched depends on the settlement of the vaccine shortage:


    “I cannot force people or assign compulsory tasks to healthcare units in this respect as long as there are no vaccines in the country. So we will solve this situation and in a months time, at the latest, we will have the Vaccination Law under public debate. The specialized parliamentary committees will decide whether the law will include penalties for families who fail to have their children immunized, after they have discussed the issue with patient associations and parent associations and other stakeholders. We will submit a version of the text only when we have at least an estimated date when all vaccines are available.”



    Rejecting vaccination may entail penalties. Similarly, the public healthcare units that fail to store vaccines in appropriate conditions and the doctors involved in vaccination programmes who do not comply with the law, risk facing penalties.