The Minister of Health was today at the center of a press conference that brought together ministers from other European countries, and he made some surprising statements regarding the medical system in Romania, but also the 5th wave of the Coronavirus, which is starting to bring Romania to its knees.
The Minister of Health spoke seriously about the fact that Romania had a medical system unprepared for the Coronavirus, which was substantially affected by the first waves, but also that further European collaboration is needed to successfully overcome the 5th wave.
"Prof. university dr. Alexandru Rafila, the Minister of Health participated today, January 18, 2022, together with other Ministers of Health from the European Union, in the proceedings of the Conference "Resilience of the Union's health systems to promote cooperation on a European scale." The event was organized by the French Presidency of the Council of the European Union, in videoconference format.
In his intervention, Minister Alexandru Rafila showed that "the pandemic reminded us of the fragility of some of the most important systems created by man, the health systems. The health system in Romania was not designed and prepared to deal with a crisis like the Covid-19 pandemic."
On the other hand, the main resilience factor of the health sector was the human resource, which was fully engaged to face the pandemic. The personnel in the health system have made extraordinary efforts, and our colleagues are worthy of all the appreciation of society.
During the event, the Minister of Health also stated: "A resilient health system should absorb the shock of an emergency situation, continuing to offer good quality health services. We need a gradual and long-term increase in the resources allocated to the health system. It is very important to have administrative and public health decisions based on the professional approach to the pandemic crisis. A permanent dialogue and an inclusive approach with all social and economic stakeholders is needed to build a consensus, including on the issue of vaccination. Eliminating disinformation more effectively among the population should be a priority at European level."
Finally, Prof. univ. Dr. Alexandru Rafila mentioned that, in his opinion, "European collaboration and support, technical assistance from ECDC and the WHO Regional Office for Europe are key elements to deal with pandemics. The Government of Romania supports deeper European collaboration and coordination for responses to the public health crisis."
