Romania’s health minister Sorina Pintea decided on Monday, March 5, to activate the European civil protection mechanism to ensure the necessary immunoglobulin quantities for Romanian patients.

Immunoglobulin is a protein produced mainly by plasma cells that is used by the immune system to neutralize pathogens such as pathogenic bacteria and viruses. It is used to treat immune and neurologic disorders or to prevent infections for people who receive bone marrow transplants.

Romania has been faced with an immunoglobulin crisis in recent years because most producers and distributors medicine have decided to leave the market due to the state’s price fixing policy, which makes the sale of these drugs unprofitable on the local market.

“We haven’t been able to convince distributors and producers to bring this type of medicine although we decided to suspend the clawback tax for these drugs for a period of two years,” said the health minister.

She added that Romania had no dose of immunoglobulin on stock at the moment and that it asked other EU states to provide about 5,000 doses.

editor@romania-insider.com