Romania Health Minister announces drug policy reform and hospital inspections

Romanian Health Minister Alexandru Rogobete has announced plans for a structural reform of the country's drug policy to improve patient access to innovative treatments. Rogobete noted that the average waiting time for innovative medicines in Romania exceeds 900 days, significantly higher than the European average of under 500 days.

The reform aims to focus on three areas: accelerating access to innovative drugs by simplifying evaluation procedures, implementing modern price negotiation mechanisms aligned with European practices, and reducing bureaucracy through legislative updates. The first phase involves adding over 40 new molecules to the compensated medicine list by the end of December, with new legislative mechanisms targeted for implementation starting in 2027.

In a separate development, Rogobete announced inspections at the Socola Psychiatric Institute in Iași. Following reports that the facility's manager may have only presented clean wards during a previous visit, health inspectors have been deployed to conduct a comprehensive audit of all wards. Rogobete stated that the manager's contract could be terminated if it is confirmed that the facility's actual conditions were misrepresented.