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The minister of Health, Alexandru Rafila, stated on Monday that drug testing for children and adolescents will only be done with the consent of the parents, stressing that it must not be "a tool of a coercive nature".
"An involvement at the highest level would take things into the area of national security. (...) We will participate with everything necessary from the point of view of developing a program that must have a very serious medical component, which it should not only refer to testing. Testing should not be generalized, but targeted, exclusively with the consent of the parents of a child or adolescent who is to be tested. This is a normal condition. We have tried to find models in other countries as well. This is how it is done, testing must be a tool for protecting or regaining the health of a child, it must not be, in any way, a tool of a coercive nature," Rafila told a Monday's press conference.
Asked if family doctors could do the testing, Rafila stated that the aspect has not been discussed yet.
"The optimal option is for the testing to be done at the request of the parent or the teacher, if there are suspicions (...) In positive cases, confirmation and entry into a system of counseling and therapeutic solutions is required," added Rafila.
Drug use among young people is an alarming phenomenon, said president Klaus Iohannis on Monday, who announced that the topic will be included on the agenda of the next meeting of the Supreme Council of Country Defense (CSAT).
