The Minister of Health announced a very important decision for the first time for Romania, and this after repeatedly stating that millions of Romanians throughout the country could benefit from technology to be consulted and monitored remotely by doctors, and now invest in it.
The Minister of Health talks below about a market study for telemedicine solutions in Romania, and separately he also talks about potassium iodide pills, which Romanians have not taken in large numbers from pharmacies yet, but which are extremely important as preventive measure in the event of a nuclear accident/attack.
"It's not about the failure of a campaign (n. ed. asked about the small number of iodine pills taken from pharmacies), it's about a mentality. We don't always have a prevention mentality, in general. It is not a failure of a campaign, we are obliged as a state to provide some products that can be used in a special situation.
The fact that we are prepared, and you see that the same thing happens in many other countries, potassium iodide is procured or produced, distributed to the population. We cannot evade the law, and release without a medical prescription a product that is in the category of those that are released on a medical prescription.
I think that a greater responsibility, both on the part of the doctors and on the part of the population, a clearer understanding of the context in which we find ourselves at the moment, will lead in time to the change of this situation. I'm also looking forward, just like you, to the figures for the month of September, anyway in August the number of people who went to take the pills increased almost 200 times compared to July.
The Ministry of Health will carry out a market study to identify the latest technologies related to the solutions/equipment available and the budgets needed to implement the telemedicine system and mobile patient monitoring systems. Within the National Recovery and Resilience Plan (PNRR), the Ministry of Health will carry out the investment "Telemedicine and mobile patient monitoring systems" which has a budget of 100 million euros.
The funds will be allocated for the purchase of a telemedicine system composed of hardware and software, as well as for equipping several specialized outpatient clinics, family doctors' offices, mainly in disadvantaged and hard-to-reach areas, with equipment dedicated to medical services provided via telemedicine .”
