Romania faces critical shortages in palliative care and oncology drugs

Romania is facing a critical shortage in healthcare resources for terminal and oncology patients. Approximately 192,000 Romanians require palliative care annually, yet the country only provides 3,700 beds, which are distributed unevenly across the nation. Only 15 of the 41 county hospitals currently possess dedicated palliative care departments.

Due to this shortage, many patients with terminal diagnoses remain in Intensive Care Units (ICU), oncology, or neurology wards because no palliative beds are available. Medical professionals report that in the absence of clear legislation, they are often forced to continue invasive life-sustaining treatments, such as mechanical ventilation, even when there is no clinical benefit to the patient.

Additionally, there are significant disruptions in the availability of compensated oncology medications. Former Health Minister Alexandru Rogobete has raised alarms regarding the unavailability of 33 newly introduced medications and 19 therapeutic indication extensions. He noted that these shortages force doctors to delay or modify therapeutic schemes, emphasizing that limiting access to innovative treatments due to cost is a short-sighted approach that ignores long-term savings from reduced hospitalizations and complications.