The Minister of Health published a last-minute announcement regarding a very important decision that is being contested in Romania at the moment, and this is because below he also offers the first explanations regarding the decision to buy technical advice from the WHO.
The Minister of Health explains below that this is part of the PNRR, but also that the amount allocated for the consultancy is lower than that provided for in the plan agreed with the European Commission, the consultant's request being mandatory, according to this Romanian plan.
"Within the National Recovery and Resilience Plan (Components C12 - Health and C7.I3 - Digitization), approved by the Implementing Decision of the Council of the European Union of November 3, 2021, the reform and investment coordinators are responsible for meeting the targets and milestones related, being recommended the use of technical assistance provided by international organizations and institutions, namely the World Health Organization, the European Investment Bank and the World Bank.
According to the cost annexes approved within the PNRR, a total general budget of approximately 50 million euros was foreseen for the technical assistance component. These financial resources are part of the "non-reimbursable grants" category, granted to Romania by the European Union. Between December 2021 and February 2022, the Ministry of Health held consultations with the international organizations and institutions included in the PNRR, namely the World Bank, the European Investment Bank and the World Health Organization (WHO). WHO fully assumed the provision of technical assistance for the implementation of milestones related to Reform 1, Reform 3 and Component 7. I3 of the PNRR.
Following these consultations, in order to meet the specific milestones of public health reforms, the Ministry of Health submitted to the Government of Romania the Memorandum on the Approval of the negotiation and signing of the contract for technical assistance between the Ministry of Health and the World Health Organization (WHO), which was approved on May 24, 2022.
Based on the mandate granted by the Government, the Ministry of Health held negotiations with representatives of the World Health Organization, the budget allocated to specialized technical assistance for Reform 1, Reform 3 and C7.I3 – Digitization being in the amount of 21,25 million euros for the period 2022 -2026, representing 42% of the total budget available for technical assistance.
We also mention that, in order to meet all the milestones specific to investments in health infrastructure (eg: the National Agency for the Development of Hospital Infrastructure - ANDIS), the Ministry of Health will carry out additional negotiations with relevant international organizations (the World Bank and the European Investment Bank) . To coordinate investments in health infrastructure, the Ministry of Health currently uses international technical assistance provided by the European Investment Bank through the EIB-PASSA agreement."
