More than 1,000 people from Mures from vulnerable communities benefited from tuberculosis screening –

Today, at the headquarters of the Mureș County Clinical Hospital, the closing event of the project “Improving the quality of health services at the level of vulnerable communities in Mureș county took place

by increasing the access of the vulnerable population, including Roma, to preventive health services for priority diseases for public health”, call financed under the program “Challenges in public health at the European level” – Financial Mechanism

EEA 2014-2021. The project started on 27.10.2022 and was completed on 27.04.2024. The value of the project was 4,893,337.40 lei.

The event was attended by the manager of the Mureș County Clinical Hospital (SCJ), Dr. Ovidiu Gîrbovan, primary pulmonologist (Pneumology Department of the Mureș SCJ) Szasz Carmen, the project manager, Dr. Ianosi Edith Simona, the medical director of the Mureș SCJ, Ștefan Răduț, the director of the Association for the Support of Patients with Multi-Drug-Resistant Tuberculosis (MDR-TB) and Bianca Nițion, ASPTMR member.

“It was a challenging project that I am very proud of. Mureș County Clinical Hospital is a trailblazer for the fact that it accesses these fundings. The hospital did a revolutionary thing: it demonstrated that tuberculosis screening could be done locally. The fact that we were able to reach the communities. I am extremely pleased to have been part of the project”, said Ștefan Răduț, ASPTMR director.

Dr. Szasz Carmen, the project manager, presented the results of its implementation. “An important objective of the project was the realization of investments, namely the renovation of the TBC Târgu Mureș dispensary (in the courtyard of the Pneumology Section – no) by partitioning, renewing the finishes, purchasing furniture and equipment. A new radiology machine and an 8 + 1-seater van were purchased. The most important activity of the project was the implementation of the screening and the information campaign”.

1,046 people benefited from the screening campaign, carried out in vulnerable communities in 24 villages in Mureș county. Of these, 3 were diagnosed with tuberculosis and 13 with SARS COV 2. As a result of the project, it was found that 40% of the vulnerable population in those localities must travel between 3 and 6 kilometers to the nearest dispensary and 34% of the population they have to walk at least 7 kilometers to the nearest dispensary. In total, as a result of the implementation of this project, 2,229 people were educated and informed.

“The Mureș County Clinical Hospital still, in the future, has a goal of increasing the quality of the medical act itself and the safety of patients. We have other ongoing projects, including the Pneumology Clinic where major renovations are being made”, said SCJ manager, Dr. Ovidiu Gîrbovan at the end of the event.

The program operator was the Ministry of Health and the promoter was the Mureș County Clinical Hospital. Project donor partner: LHL’s International Tuberculosts Foundation (LHL International), from Norway. Grensen 3, 0159 Oslo, Norway. Another partner of this project was the Association for the Support of Patients with Multi-Drug-Resistant Tuberculosis.