Health Minister Alexandru Rafila said he agreed with the idea of a centralised health procurement system, saying that there are often big price differences between different medical units.

Asked how feasible is a pilot project on centralised procurement for health materials for emergency units, presented on Tuesday by Finance Minister Marcel Bolos, Rafila said it would be a good idea.

„Always when you do a centralised acquisition that sets a price or refers to a price that is not discordant from unit to unit, I think it’s a good idea and we are not only talking about the consumables that are purchased, we can also talk about more complex equipment. In the Romanian market, we see that there are often big differences in terms of purchase prices between the various medical units, and such a centralised purchase does not necessarily mean that the state buys for each health unit. We have a national office for centralised procurement which is under the Ministry of Finance and there we can certainly establish a framework contract, and hospitals can purchase good quality products from suppliers with prices that are competitive on the market,” Rafila explained.

AGERPRES