Romania’s Beating Cancer Plan, launched
Romania's Beating Cancer Plan was launched in the presence of President Klaus Iohannis.
Leyla Cheamil, 20.01.2022, 14:00
The coronavirus pandemic in Romania made collateral victims among the people diagnosed with cancer, as the big number of patients infected with Covid-19 put huge pressure on the medical system. The pandemic has delayed the diagnosis and treatment of patients with cancer or has disturbed their routine treatment, thus reducing their chances to recover. The Cancer Patients Federation and the Coalition of Patients’ Organisations with Chronic Diseases in Romania, have warned over this danger and have asked for the patients’ access to diagnosis, monitoring and treatment to be guaranteed.
According to official data, in 2020 some 88% of patients with cancer died and 25% of the patients with cardiovascular diseases did not go to checkups. The head of the Federation of Cancer Patient Associations, Cezar Irimia, said that 2020 proved that the diagnosis of such patients dropped by more than 40%. That is why, the Beating Cancer National Plan, launched on Wednesday in Bucharest in the presence of President Klaus Iohannis, was needed.
President Iohannis said on that occasion that the plan set realistic and measurable objectives and defined a standardized pathway for the patient, also focusing on additional financing for medical investigations. ˮStarting the beginning of next year, the national screening programs for certain types of cancer should be fully functional. Also in 2023, the criteria based on which genetic tests will be subsidized is going to be finalized, allowing for more targeted therapies and treatments that improve the chances of recoveryˮ, Iohannis also said. The President announced that in the period 2023-2026 an innovation fund could be set upabroad, to offer Romanian patients quick access to the latest therapies. He also said that under the Plan, in 2023-2024, solutions will be identified for the financing of palliative care, as a way of improving the quality of life for both patients and their families.
In his turn, Health Minister Alexandru Rafila has said that during his mandate he will give priority to this disease, because it is a public health issue that affects 100,000 people in the country every year. Romania has a national cancer program at present, under which some therapies and tests are subsidized by the National Health Insurance House and also a prevention program run by the Health Ministry. A working group for cancer prevention was set up at parliamentary level, tasked with monitoring the transposition into national law of the European plan launched last February, that allocates 4 billion euros to prevention, research and treatment programs in the EU. (EE)
