The Supreme Council for National Defence (CSAT) discussed on Friday an action plan for the healthcare system.
"We have discussed and agreed on an action plan, materialized in a Council decision that sets some measures on norms, procedures, control and laboratories," President Klaus Iohannis announced after the CSAT sitting.
Norms aligned to the European requirements on antiseptics and chemical disinfectants should be drafted by the Government by end-July and include more drastic sanctions, the president said. To this effect, the government should gather a group of experts - physicians, biologists, chemists, food safety specialist, etc. - to set up rules for marketing biocides, for hospital cleaning, disinfection and sterilization. The Health Ministry should strengthen its control capability, and the state sanitary inspection is also in focus.
According to Iohannis, regulations are also necessary to coordinate the human and animal health and the food safety, and measures must be taken for the efficient use of antibiotics.
"The Government of Romania will monitor the implementation of all the goals set in the 2016-2018 Strategic Plan for preventing and combating the nosocomial infections, which provides for the prevention, the incidence abatement, the monitoring, and the increase of the diagnostic capabilities for intra-hospital infections," the president stressed.
The CSAT decided to create a reporting, information and control mechanism, as more thorough control is also necessary, besides the stricter norms. "The Government will submit quarterly information to the CSAT on the public health system and on the citizens' health condition," Iohannis announced.
The Council also ordered the Government to start training programmes on intra-hospital infections for the medical staff.
Romania must develop a network of accredited laboratories, which must be able to analyse the disinfectants, too, the CSAT ruled. The Government must draft a long-term investment programme to this effect.
The Council specifically addressed the issue of biocides for hospitals following weeks of public outrage on inefficient disinfectants used in Romania's hospitals. Starting from a press investigation, the revelation of forged products was followed by official inquiries and by the resignation and replacement of the health minister earlier in May.