Health Minister Patriciu Achimas-Cadariu told a news conference on Friday in Bistrita, that Romania is the only country in the European Union that has not completed a national oncologic plan, which will be launched in mid-April.
"All EU countries operate according to a so-called comprehensive cancer control plan. We are the last country to complete the plan. April 13-14, I can officially announce it, this plan will be launched in Bucharest, which will have been completed by then," said Achimas-Cadariu. The national oncologic plan will cover all aspects, from prophylaxis, through education for health and screening, diagnosis and treatment, care, palliative care, to cancer research.
"This is how to create action plans. We go from strategies to the concrete area, to tangible things. The moment we complete this plan, the moment we have definite components, we know exactly what we have to do in the years to come, and we plan, by 2020, what to do each year, how to allot money, so we should know very clearly what we have to do," Achimas-Cadariu said. The helath minister on Friday visited the Bistrita County Emergency Hospital, at the invitation of the Bistrita-Nasaud County Council, as the county administration asked for the ministry's support to complete works on the new operating theatre started last year.