Sentenced by Ministry of Death

Romanians who suffer from cancer are in a truly dramatic situation because they don't get their medicine in time and they have to take ceaseless efforts for it. They are the beneficiaries of no medical tests for free and normal environment in hospitals. Their existence is endless nightmare. The bureaucracy prevailing in the Romanian health system is also the enemy of those suffering from incurable diseases. What such a diseased person has to do in order to get the medicine vital to him is really unbelievable. After the diagnosis has been decided, the doctor prescribes the medication scheme. Then the patient goes to his family doctor to register it and then he is to reach the National Health Insurance Office to be told if his medicine is for free or just on discount.
According to official statistics, in Romania there are over 370,000 people who suffer from cancer and about 600 of them are children. It is only 76,000 who are the beneficiaries of proper treatment. 60,000 new cases emerge every year. 40.000 Romanians die of cancer every year.
200 Euro from the state budget
Although Romania tops the list with the number of people who die of one type of cancer or the other, the funds set by the Ministry of Health for the national oncology programme are 6-7 times smaller than in other European states. This year's budget for those who suffer from cancer is 336 million ROL (about 100 million Euro), much less than such funds in EU states. Great Britain, for instance, spent 4,3 billion pounds on the treatment of such patients in 2005-2006.
Right now there are only 250 oncologists to see to the 370,000 cancer stricken Romanians. 1 patient gets about 200 Euro from the state budget for oncological treatment, whereas in the civilized state such a patient gets about 1, 300 Euro a month. These 200 Euro are real mock, since a Romanian suffering from cancer needs at least 100 million ROL a month, if we don't count the money needed for treatment to take away the pain. As there are few who can afford it, more than a third of patients get treated for cancer in Romania.
Oncology is extinct
The interest in such patients can bee seen in one of the measures taken by Eugen Nicolaescu, also called 'the minister of death'. Last September he signed an order to do away with oncology as a specialization. Given Order 1044/ 2006, several medical branches were engulfed by others, oncology one of them. They claimed there was need to meet European requirements, although they aren't applied in the civilized EU states. In other words, they claimed there were no oncologists in EU states, which is false. The above-mentioned order is the end of a system for professional specializing. The patients are going to be treated by general practitioners who take a 4-month course in oncology.

by Marian Ghiteanu
Ziua http://www.ziua.net/english