Health minister: Four counties left where potassium iodide pills must be distributed

Health Minister Alexandru Rafila announced on Thursday, in Iasi, that there are four counties left in which the potassium iodide pills must be distributed, Agerpres reports.

The official stressed that potassium iodide should only be taken in case of a recommendation from doctors and authorities at a certain time.

"[Antibiotice Iasi] has already distributed to the Public Health Directorates most of the production of potassium iodide, 90%. There are four more counties in which it must be distributed. We organize ourselves at the Ministry of Health. We try to find the best solution for these medicines to reach the population as soon as possible, but under the conditions of an information campaign on how to use them, on how to store them, a public campaign of public interest," said Alexandru Rafila.

Earlier, the health minister paid a visit to the antibiotic factory in Iasi.

"At Antibiotice Iasi, I came to see how they managed to solve a complicated problem, in a very short time, the achievement of the national stock of potassium iodide," said the health minister.

Antibiotice Iasi is the only medicine factory in Romania that can produce potassium iodide. 30 million tablets were produced, which were subsequently distributed to the Public Health Directorates, and will reach the level of all these institutions by the end of the week.

Antibiotics Iasi first produced potassium iodide 11 years ago following a nuclear accident in Fukushima, Japan. This drug is manufactured at the request of government authorities, so that it can be offered free of charge to the public, in crisis situations caused by a nuclear incident.