Why hasn’t the cynical health minister been dismissed? The most serious examples of indifference and defiance by Alexandru Rafila

This hospital is not owned by the ‘Give Life’ Association; it belongs to the ‘Marie Curie’ Hospital,” Alexandru Rafila (PSD) stated nonchalantly on a weekend TV show about the children’s cancer hospital, which was built entirely from donations from citizens and private companies.

This hospital—the only one constructed in Romania in the last 30 years—was neither developed by „Marie Curie” nor any state institution, nor was it inaugurated with a ribbon-cutting ceremony. It was built by citizens weary of governmental inefficacy, who pooled together donations starting from just two euros, demonstrating that it was indeed possible. A total of 350,000 individuals and several private companies contributed to this project, which was built from the ground up and turned over to the state, ready for use, by Oana Gheorghiu and Carmen Uscatu, the founders of the „Give Life” Association.

Completed in November with all facilities meeting Western standards, the hospital remains empty because the state, led by the Ministry of Health under Alexandru Rafila, has been unable for more than four months to complete the necessary paperwork. Rather than facilitating the work and expediting the ministry’s bureaucracy to process all necessary documents for the hospital’s operation, Alexandru Rafila has unashamedly complained about „media pressure” on the issue.

„The hospital is functional, but these issues still need to be resolved; there’s nothing we can do,” Rafila claimed in his defense.

Alexandru Rafila ought to visit „Marie Curie” and repeat „there’s nothing we can do,” while looking into the eyes of children suffering from cancer and their parents who fight for life crammed into undersized rooms, with shared toilets in the hallways and windows that open to interior spaces. They helplessly watch the new building in the courtyard, which has suitable rooms for children and parents who stay hospitalized for months, equipped with the latest technology that could improve their chances of recovery (in Romania, the survival rate for children with cancer is about 20% lower than in Western countries).

This latest episode is another example of how Health Minister Alexandru Rafila cynically treats patients in Romania, particularly those with the most severe illnesses.

For over a year, Rafila has unjustifiably delayed the implementation of regulations for the National Plan for Cancer Control, which patients desperately await.

The National Plan for Cancer Prevention and Control, unanimously adopted by Parliament in 2022, represented a rare consensus on a major societal issue. Between fifty and two hundred specialists worked for nearly two years to draft this plan, which aims to benefit cancer patients primarily through improved access to diagnostic tests and treatment.

Alexandru Rafila, in his role as one of the initiators of the law, alongside figures such as Nelu Tătaru (PNL), Patriciu-Andrei Achimaș-Cadariu (PSD), Adrian Streinu-Cercel (PSD), Attila Laszlo (UDMR), Nicoleta Pauliuc (PNL), and Iulia Scântei (PNL), saw nearly 200 parliamentarians from PSD, PNL, USR endorse the project. At no point during its development, legislative process, or even shortly after its enactment, did Rafila suggest that the plan was flawed or needed revision.

After its adoption, when the Ministry of Health was expected to proceed with drafting the implementation guidelines, Rafila’s statements shocked even his party colleagues. He argued that the plan was unworkable because the proposed measures did not align with the goals and that it needed „correction.”

The Federation of Cancer Patient Associations publicly asserted that the failure to implement the law was crushing patients’ hopes, and PSD deputy Dr. Patriciu Achimaș Cadariu openly accused Rafila of „premeditated murder.”

It was only in the middle of last year that the Ministry of Health introduced the first guidelines for the Cancer Control Plan, which were inadequate, and a new version was proposed, to be endorsed by Rafila.

Cancer patients have organized street protests, President Klaus Iohannis has publicly addressed Alexandru Rafila, and Prime Minister Marcel Ciolacu has demanded that he fulfill his responsibilities. Nonetheless, Rafila has remained unmoved.

In October, the Declic Community organized a protest in Victory Square to demand action on the Cancer Control Plan. They displayed 153 „corpse bags” in front of the Government, symbolizing the daily toll of cancer in Romania.

Most recently, in February 2024, Nicolae Ciucă, the President of the Senate and leader of the PNL, noted „a series of unacceptable delays” in implementing the National Plan for Cancer Prevention and Control, expressing hope that these issues would be resolved within the year.

Alexandru Rafila is also the minister who forfeited 740 million euros of non-reimbursable European funds from the National Recovery and Resilience Plan (PNRR) intended for new hospitals. In September 2023, he removed six new hospitals or sections from the PNRR due to a „high risk” of non-completion, as reported exclusively by G4Media.

These funds were lost due to project delays, with a stipulation that they must be completed by mid-2026. But how could such projects be expedited when another institution has been awaiting responses from the Ministry of Health for months?

Everything managed by the Ministry of Health under Alexandru Rafila encounters delays. As a minister with a busy schedule attending various international meetings and conferences—from Europe to Latin America (including a week in Cuba in October 2022 at a conference alongside ministers from Latin America, Africa, and Asia)—he has demonstrated significant neglect.

Another example of this minister’s cynicism is his attempt to lower the care standards for major burn victims, who require the most complex medical care. Rafila sought to establish major burns centers „by decree,” despite the Romanian state’s failure to build even one such center in over eight years since the Colectiv nightclub tragedy.

In August 2023, Rafila claimed Romania had 34 beds for major burns victims, based on the lowered standards he wanted to adopt, even though Ministry of Health documents contradicted this figure.

Read the full EXCLUSIVE: Romania has only six beds for patients with burns covering more than 20% of their body. Rafila claimed there were „about 30.” No centers for treating major burns have been built in Romania, eight years after the Colectiv tragedy, four of which were under PSD-led Ministry of Health.

These instances showcase the blatant indifference and defiance of Alexandru Rafila, who remains firmly in the role of Health Minister, where his decisions can mean the difference—without any exaggeration—between life and death.

A minister so defiant towards the most vulnerable should have been dismissed or asked to resign long ago. Keeping Alexandru Rafila in the position of Minister of Health demonstrates nothing but contempt for society.