Mobile caravans with medical equipment are coming to disadvantaged rural areas in Bihor

The executive president of the Save the Children organization, Gabriela Alexandrescu, stated that these medical caravans were necessary because less than half of the localities in Romania have enough family doctors, 328 communes do not have a family doctor at all, and the distribution of medical units and of doctors is uneven between urban and rural areas.

“Access to health care is important for children and pregnant women from vulnerable communities, living in remote regions. 53% of the localities in Romania have no family doctor or have insufficient family doctors.

Three modern medical caravans, worth 300,000 euros, fully equipped to provide specialist care (ultrasound machines and medical furniture), with 300 volunteer doctors will reach the hearts of at least 26 isolated rural communities to carry out gynecological and pediatric check-ups in disadvantaged rural areas. Aware of the essential need for access to basic medical services, we created a partnership with Asociatia Caravana cu Medici, with the support of MSD for Mothers.

The mobile medical units will provide a safe and professional setting, where a multidisciplinary team of specialists will be able to provide complex medical and psychosocial services adapted to the needs of approximately 10,000 vulnerable people annually.

In a world where distance and socio-economic conditions can be significant barriers to accessing adequate healthcare, this initiative aims to ensure that no mother and child from disadvantaged communities is left behind. We are committed to ensuring that all those who need it benefit from the best medical services, regardless of where they live,” said Gabriela Alexandrescu.

REQUIRED

The Minister of Health, Alexandru Rafila, says that, in addition to these medical services offered with the help of mobile units, it is necessary to introduce health education in schools.

“We should at least start Health Education as a permanent discipline in schools in Romania from autumn. Maybe gradually we won’t be able to do it in all modules, but at least from primary education we have, at the moment, the curricula on the basis of which, on the one hand, the teachers and, on the other hand, the students should be trained.

If we want a healthy society, we want to avoid, for example, very early pregnancy. We must bear in mind that in Romania, children must have access to this regular curricular discipline in Romanian schools. Otherwise, the interest in Health Education is very low.

5% of parents in Romania opt for this discipline for their children and only 2% finish, because many of them give up along the way”, said the Minister of Health, Alexandru Rafila.

Alexandru Rafila also said that they are working on a national strategy regarding sexual and reproductive health rights and that the Ministry of Health will soon purchase 10 mobile caravans for cervical and breast cancer screening, a project financed by PNRR, and will buy over 300 incubators through a program financed by the World Bank.