Two of the most visible and highly cited health specialists in Romania during the COVID-19 pandemic have decided to run for a seat in the Parliament, on the lists of the Social Democratic Party (PSD). They are Alexandru Rafila, the president of the Romanian Society of Microbiology and Romania’s representative at the World Health Organization, and doctor Adrian Streinu-Cercel, the manager of the Matei Bals Institute of Infectious Diseases in Bucharest.

Alexandru Rafila (opening photo) announced last Thursday, October 15, that he has decided to join the PSD and run in the parliamentary elections on the party’s lists. He will open the PSD list for the Chamber of Deputies in Bucharest, local Digi24 reported.

“It was a difficult step for me, but I believe that I have the experience needed to help this country, not necessarily the Social Democratic Party. We need to have health legislation that makes a goal possible: universal access to health services. Intolerance, polarization make collaboration impossible. We need to focus on projects. Being a political party member is an opportunity to make a difference in our daily lives,” Alexandru Rafila said at the press conference organized on October 15. 

In his turn, PSD president Marcel Ciolacu, also present at the press conference, said that specialists are needed in the Parliament to make laws for the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic.

“It is clear that the current government is not managing this pandemic. Most of the time, they look for excuses or for someone to blame. People like Dr. Rafila must find themselves in the Romanian Parliament in the future,” Ciolacu said.

Then, on Sunday, October 18, the Social Democrat leader also announced that doctor Adrian Streinu-Cercel (picture below) is also running for a seat in the Parliament. He is second on PSD’s list for the Senate in Bucharest, after the capital’s former mayor Gabriela Firea.

“Professor Streinu-Cercel has been, from the first second, in the front line in the fight against the pandemic. I want to assure him that today he does not make a covenant or a promise to the PSD but continues to make a covenant with the Romanians, and we want the Parliament to benefit from the best specialists in the fight against the pandemic,” Ciolacu said, quoted by Digi24.

In turn, doctor Adrian Streinu-Cercel said that specialists should be present in hospitals but also where the laws that will also apply to the healthcare facilities are made. 

Streinu-Cercel also said that he would leave the leading position at the Matei Bals Institute when he becomes a member of the Parliament.

Alexandru Rafila received his medical degree in 1987 and a Ph.D. degree in Microbiology in 2004. He has been a senior specialist in Laboratory Medicine/Microbiology and Public Health since 2000, according to information on the website of the Romanian Society of Microbiology. He has held several positions in Romania’s central administration, but his expertise has also been recognized as an expert for the World Health Organization, NATO and European Commission. He has authored articles, manuals, book chapters, and guidelines for public health and microbiology practice. He has also contributed to the reestablishment, in 2016, of Medical Microbiology as a specialty in Romania.

Adrian Streinu-Cercel, MD, Ph.D., senior physician in Infectious Diseases, has also been one of the most cited health experts in Romania during the COVID-19 pandemic. General manager of the Matei Bals Institute of Infectious Diseases in Bucharest and Professor at the Department of Infectious Diseases and President of the University Senate of the Carol Davila University of Medicine and Pharmacy, he has also worked as Secretary of State in the Ministry of Health between 2009 and 2012. His CV is available here.

Romania will organize the general elections on December 6, according to the calendar announced by the government.

irina.marica@romania-insider.com

(Opening photo: Facebook/Patridul Social Democrat)