The role of partners in the project
Romania has one of the highest rates of viral hepatitis infection in Europe, with most cases still unidentified. Failure to identify these cases can have a detrimental effect not only on people who do not know that they are infected but also on the medical system which can, in time, be overloaded by these hidden cases. Thus, permanent testing and the early detection of infections is essential for both the population and the medical system. However, the first step towards this identification of cases is the proper choice of project partners.
International expertise, as well as the experience of partner institutions in activities dedicated to standardization, training, diagnosis, treatment and the monitoring of patients infected with viral hepatitis such as HBV and HCV is the guarantee of a successful approach and progress at a national level towards the goals and recommendations of the World Health Organization.
Thus, within the Fundeni Clinical Institute there is the Center for Gastroenterology and Hepatology, a medical center for the diagnosis and treatment of digestive disorders, a center with a tradition in university and postgraduate education in gastroenterology. It is the oldest center in Romania dedicated exclusively to the study and care of diseases of the digestive tract, liver, bile ducts and pancreas. The center has served as a focal point for the training and specialization of many generations of digestive disease specialists, many of whom currently run clinics or specialized departments throughout the country. The vast medical procedure experience of the Fundeni Clinical Institute covers the entire complexity of the stages of viral hepatitis infection, from diagnosis to staging, treatment and up to and including liver transplantation.
The fact that the Gr.T. Popa University of Medicine and Pharmacy, Iași, one of the oldest and most prestigious medical universities in Romania, is a project partner allows for the elaboration of a training curriculum of high professional standards that guarantees the implementation of a rigorous training program for participating MDs, in accordance with current European requirements.
The National Institute of Public Health brings to the table the expertise of implementing and monitoring national programs through reports, the centralizing and processing of statistical data relevant to the health of the population, data necessary to monitor the number and evolution of patients and to assess the effectiveness of the financial intervention for the HBV and HCV stage 1 and stage 2 screening projects.
The Fundeni Clinical Institute
THE FUNDENI CLINICAL INSTITUTE, was founded in 1959 and is currently organized as a public health unit with legal personality subordinated to the Ministry of Health. The Center for Gastroenterology and Hepatology within the Fundeni Center for Digestive Diseases and Liver Transplantaion is one of the largest tertiary care centers for gastroenterology and hepatology in Romania, and an institution with a long tradition in Romanian medical education. The Center of Gastroenterology and Hepatology has particular expertise in the diagnostic and therapeutic approaches to the pathology of the digestive tract, liver and pancreas, and is one of the oldest centres of endoscopy in ROmania.
National Institute of Public Health
The National Institute of Public Health is a public institution with legal personality, subordinated to the Ministry of Health, based in Bucharest, 5th Sector, at 1-3 Dr Leonte Anastasievici Street. The Institute's mission is the technical and methodological coordination of the public health network, the supervision of the population’s health status, with a focus on communicable and non - communicable diseases, the identification of communitarian health problems, the development of methodologies, tools and indicators for the monitoring and evaluation of public health services and programs, health promotion and health education and the coordination of the information system for public health management.
The current institute has been operating for almost a century, continuing the tradition of the former Bucharest Institute of Public Health. It was reformed by H.G. no. 1414/2010, which established the National Institute, through merging all other institutes and public health centers in Romania.
The National Institute of Public Health is a unique institution in the country and enjoys a prestigious tradition, through all its structures.
The current institute organization structure is based on 4 national centers, in in the main areas of public health, which ensure specific professional coordination at a national level, respectively:
a) The National Center for the Surveillance and Control of Communicable Diseases (CNSCBT);
b) The National Center for Monitoring Risks in Community Environments (CNMRMC);
c) The National Center for Health Assessment and Promotion (CNEPSS).
d) National Center for Statistics and Informatics in Public Health.
At a territorial level, the institute operates through 6 regional public health centers, organized in its structure, without legal personality.
The "Grigore T. Popa" University of Medicine and Pharmacy , Iași
The „Gr.T.Popa” University of Medicine and Pharmacy Iași (UMF Iași), founded in 1948, is the only recognized academic medical education structure in the NE region of Romania, covering the need for education for a very large number of young people. Within UMF Iași, four faculties operate: Medicine, Dentistry, Pharmacy and Medical Bioengineering, with two specializations (Health and Applied Engineering Sciences).
Since its founding UMF Iași had several objecives: the education of highly trained specialists; the continuous updating and improvement of specialist skills; the continued quality of initial and lifelong education services provided by the university; promoting international cooperation and the integration into the European medical education system; finally, adapting the knowledge and practical skills of graduates to the labor market both through initial training and through lifelong learning programs.
Romanian Anti-AIDS Association
The Romanian Anti-AIDS Association, ARAS, is an NGO, founded on April 10, 1992 by a group of young volunteers with several goals in mind: informing and educating all sections of the population about the dangers posed by AIDS and the means of preventing HIV infection; promoting a supportive attitude towards people already infected or sick, as well as defending their rights and interests; providing material, moral and psychological assistance services for infected or sick people and their families. Since its establishment the organization has been carrying out disease prevention programs, offering socio-medical assistance for various vulnerable groups and has significant experience in related activituies. ARAS has been active in Bucharest and 10 counties, addressing the needs of vulnerable people, namely people infected with HIV, injecting drug users, people involved in prostitution, homeless people, Roma people, pregnant women and young people. In recent years, the organization has extended its intervention to jobseekers, vulnerable people in rural environments and to the field of social enterprise.
Other areas of work: the training for health professionals, advocacy for respecting the rights of beneficiaries, the training and involvement of volunteers. The organization has gained extensive experience in implementing and coordinating projects in national and transnational partnerships, including the establishment, participation and / or coordination of NGO networks.
The Romanian Anti-AIDS Association (ARAS) adds value to the project through experience in the implementation and monitoring of similar projects in the last 25 years of activities at national level in the field of prevention of HIV transmission and hepatitis B and C, activities helping vulnerable people (drug users / vulnerable people in rural areas / women / women involved in prostitution / LGBT people / homeless people / people infected with HIV / young people.
The "Sf. Spiridon" Iași County Emergency Clinical Hospital
The “Sf. Spiridon” Iași County Emergency Clinical Hospital is one of the first medical units in the country, and the largest hospital in Moldova. Currently, the hospital provides continuous hospitalization services, specialized outpatient services, day hospitalization services and paraclinical services in many specializations. The hospital coordinates the activity of the university polyclinic, the largest in the region, of the dispensaries in Iași, of the dental polyclinics in the city, of three nurseries and 13 rural dispensaries in Iași county.
The Institute of Gastroenterology and Hepatology within St. Spiridon Hospital Iași is the largest tertiary care center for gastroenterology and hepatology in the northeast region of Romania, an institution with long traditions in Romanian medical education. The Institute of Gastroenterology and Hepatology coordinates health programs specific to gastric and liver diseases, through specialists from its own staff.
