The Bucharest General Council (CGMB) has approved in its meeting this week a series of projects granting financial help to the capital’s residents for a variety of issues. These range from medical problems to encouraging school performance.

They add to the list of financial incentives the City Hall is offering to young people who get married or to the schemes to support families that want to have children. Last year, the Bucharest City Hall also introduced a financial stimulus of RON 2,500 (EUR 537) for each baby born in the city.

The recently approved projects are:

Genetic testing for breast cancer patients

The City Hall will grant vouchers worth RON 17,000 (EUR 3,655) each for breast cancer patients in Bucharest to undergo genetic testing.

The program of the genetic testing will be rolled out by the Bucharest Administration of Hospitals and Medical Services (ASSMB), between September 2018 and December 2019. The program has a budget of RON 17 million (EUR 3.6 million) and covers 1,000 patients. This year, 300 patients will be tested, and the remaining 700 next year.

The program targets hormone-receptor positive breast cancer patients in early stages, who have a recommendation from an oncologist to undergo genetic testing.

The test will offer patients and their doctors additional information on the probability of response to chemotherapy and on the probability of the cancer recurrence within ten years since the diagnosis has been made. Some 700 new breast cancers are diagnosed each year in Bucharest, according to data quoted by the City Hall. The test could add to the life expectancy of patients if it is used to reevaluate treatment options.

Fertility preservation for the young diagnosed with cancer

The young residents of Bucharest diagnosed with cancer can receive help to preserve their fertility through the Newborn – Oncofertility project.

The project has a budget of RON 880,000 (EUR 189,247). It targets women up to 35 years old and men up to 45 years old who wish to preserve their fertility through the cryo-preservation of their oocytes and sperm for a period of five years.

The ASSMB will roll out the project at the Prof. Dr. Panait Sîrbu Obstetrics and Gynecology Hospital, between November 2018 and October 2020. A total of 138 women and 175 men will take part in the program. To be eligible, they need to be residents of Bucharest or to have a Bucharest residence visa obtained at least six months before the start of the project. They also need to have a doctor’s recommendation for cryo-preservation.

The initiators of the project, selected from those submitted in the public call For Bucharest, argued that it can help the reproductive capacity of those diagnosed with cancer, in the wider context of Romania’s decreasing birth rate, the migration phenomenon, and the lack of coherent programs to stimulate births.

Dental braces for children

The City Hall will grant financial help amounting to RON 750 (EUR 161) to children aged 7 to 16 who need dental braces. The sum will double in the case of children who need braces on both arcades. The money will be granted following a doctor’s recommendation.

The program is rolled out at the Prof. Dr. Dan Theodorescu Hospital. It has a budget of RON 925,000 (EUR 198,924) and it will be implemented between September 2018 and September 2019. The project was selected from those submitted in the public call For Bucharest.

Rewards for students who achieve high marks

Bucharest students who achieve GPAs higher than 8.5 will receive money rewards from the City Hall. In the Romanian school system, the minimum pass grade is 5 and the highest that can be achieved is 10.

As such, students with a GPA of 10 will receive rewards amounting to RON 1,000 (EUR 215), while those with a GPA in between 9.5 and 9.99 rewards of RON 400 (EUR 86). Furthermore, students with a GPA in between 8.5 and 9.49 will receive RON 300 (EUR 64). Students in all school cycles until university can benefit from the rewards.

At the same time, the City Hall plans to grant awards for performance, amounting to RON 600 (EUR 129) each. The awards will be offered to schools as grants, to encourage school performance and inclusion.

Bucharest City Hall grants financial incentives worth EUR 29 mln

(Photo: Pixabay.com)

editor@romania-insider.com