Raed Arafat's resignation, "registered at the government"

The resignation of the Undersecretary of State of the Ministry of Health, Raed Arafat, was registered at the Prime Minister's office, according to a press release of the executive.

The Undersecretary of State of the Ministry of Health, Raed Arafat, said in a press release that “by leaving the Ministry of Health he will be able to better defend the emergency system”.

He said that he did not aprove the view of the minister concerning the change of the emergency system.

Raed Arafat pointed out that with this change any control over the system would disappear.

The chief of the Mobile Emergency Service for Resuscitation and Extrication (SMURD) added that the public emergency system had developed very well and it was functional and that the change did not guarantee that it would be improved.

Raed Arafat also said that there had been strong pressures to buy out a part of the emergency health system and that private access to the system had been accepted from the beginning.

According to Raed Arafat, the people who are working to change the emergency health system “have no knowledge” in the field.

The Undersecretary of State of the Ministry of Health explained that his gesture had no political connotations.

Not long time ago the Minister of Health, Ritli Ladislau, said that he was aware of the decision of the Undersecretary of State of the Ministry of Health, Raed Arafa, to resign from his position.

Ladislaus Ritli gave a brief statement before the press conference announced by Raed Arafat.

The Minister of Health also claimed that he asked the Undersecretary of State of the Ministry of Health, Raed Arafat, not to give a negative signal about the health system.

“Doctor Tudor Ciuhodaru, deputy of the National Union for the Progress of Romania (UNPR) and physician at the Emergency Receiving Unit of the Centre for Trauma and Toxicology of Iași, will be appointed honorary adviser of the Minister of Health for emergency issues”, Ritli Ladislas also stated.

Raed Arafat said that his views “have not been heard"

On Monday evening during a talk-show to which the Undersecretary of State of the Ministtry of Health, Raed Arafat, was invited President Traian Băsescu recommended on the phone that the Raed Arafat should tell the minister his observations about the new law in the field, instead of creating a “public psychosis concerning the emergency services”.

Raed Arafat stated that the new law, which is in public debate on the website of the Minister of Health, was raising many questions concerning the division of public funds and the principles by which they would be distributed, including private health care.

Raed Arafat said that he had sent the Presidential Commission his points of view on the health bill and that after a second discussion within the commission, he was no longer accepted for deliberation.

“For at least three months I have been trying to talk to a commission about the health bill. The committee includes Vlădescu, Păunescu and Duță. After the second discussion, I was silenced by Vlădescu, who did want me to take part in any discussion on the bill.

“At their request, I was no longer accepted to take part in the discussions. I would have not made public this issue if I had not been considered the enemy of the health reform”, said Raed Arafat on Realitatea TV.

The new health law provides the establishment of private health funds, and the possibility of organising hospitals and emergency services as units with the status of foundation, company or association.

The document has been in public debate for 30 days, starting since 28 December 2011, but according to the Minister of Health, Ladislau Ritli, the term can be prolonged as long as needed.

Translated by: Cătălina Virvescu
MA Student, MTTLC, Bucharest University