Romania’s Third Oncologic Institute To Open In Iasi – Health Min

“We need a new oncologic institute in Moldavia, to relieve pressure on the ones in Bucharest and Cluj. Additionally, we will open a bone marrow transplant department, both in Iasi and in Bucharest,” Bazac said.

September will see the national opening of the Stem Cell Donors Registry, a first in the country, Prime Minister Emil Boc and Bazac said Sunday on TV station ProTV. The Registry will combine the databases of testing centers throughout Romania. This will enable its employees to search the country for compatible donors for cancer sufferers. Failing to find a Romanian donor, Registry employees could search international databases, with over 13 million registered donors.

The two Romanian officials said a technical commission will take over, by July 1, the Spanish and Italian legislation, procedures and databases, which are some of the most advanced in the field. By September 1, through a Government Decision, the Registry is to be opened.

ProTV’s news program, “Stirile ProTV”, started the “We have life in our blood!” campaign in an effort to compel Romanian authorities to set up the Stem Cell Donors Registry, a medical program which could mean the difference between life and death for hundred of leukemia sufferers.

Romania is one of the few European countries which do not employ this Registry, and people with leukemia are unable to turn to the International Donors Registry for a marrow transplant, significantly reducing their chance to live.

The “We have life in our blood!” campaign has so far collected 17,000 signatures supporting the setting up of a stem cell donors’ registry, and dozens of people have registered as donors in the country’s six medical centers.