Romanian Health Min: State Will Pay Overdue Debts To Drugstores Countrywide By Yearend

Romanian Health Minister Cseke Attila on Thursday said the state has paid almost EUR250 million in overdue debts to drugstores countrywide over the past few weeks, adding there are enough state budget funds to pay debts to all drugstores by the end of the year.

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Cseke said Thursday, at the National Congress of Pharmacists in Romania (CNFR), that the payment of overdue debts to drugstores is one of the most important achievements in the healthcare sector, in times of economic crisis.

Asked about hospitals' debts and the existing deadlock between drugmakers and suppliers, the minister said has no information about such matter, adding, however, that, in this situation, the ministry cannot intervene in an economic issue. He stressed the state paid all its debts to hospitals when they were taken over by local authorities.

Cseke stressed he already held talks as regards assigning a higher percentage of the gross domestic product for the healthcare sector, adding he hopes next year's budget for the sector will be higher than this year's.

The minister also said he is looking into the possibility of liberalizing the system of setting up drugstores, adding the country's drugstore network has flourished over the years, with the number of drugstores doubling between 2000 and 2010. But, he said, there are areas with no drugstores and regulations are needed to this end.

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