Country Profile

Romania

Health Promotion: A Matter of Time

by George Dumitru and Wolf Kirsten

 

Facts

Population: 23 million, with 13% older than 65 years of age, 19% younger than 15

Urbanization: 56%

GDP per capita (1996): $5200

Life expectancy at birth: 66.7 males; 74.5 females.

Crude birth rate: 9 births per 1000

Crude death rate: 12 deaths per 1000 (-0.23% increase)

Infant mortality rate: 19 per 1000 live births

Child malnutrition mr 1985-95: 6% of under 5- age group

Tuberculosis incidence per 100,000 population (1995): 120

Smoking prevalence (HNP report World Bank 1997): 43% adult males; 15% adult females

Public health expenditure (1994): 3.6% of GDP

 

General Information

Despite Romania's harsh economic conditions and major primary health care problems such as child malnutrition and high child mortality, health promotion is becoming increasingly popular in this East European country of 23 million people. The first concerted efforts are being made to bring health promotion programs to various settings, including academia and the workplace.

The World Health Organization (WHO) and the World Bank in collaboration with Romania's Ministry of Health, have recently launched several projects which focus on much-needed traditional public health services like immunixations and sanitation improvements, as well as education programs on issues like smoking cessation and HIV/AIDS. However, there is no national policy for health promotion, and effectiveness remains limited due to major barriers to the implementation of services, like lack of coordination.

 

New Breed of Health Promotion

At the same time, a "new breed" of health promotion initiatives is currently being developed with a different origin. The Romanian Sport for All Federation ("Federatia Romana Sportul Pentru Toti"), which is based at the Ministry of Youth and Sports in Bucharest, has taken on the task of raising awareness of the benefits of an active lifestyle and aiming their efforts at the general population.

The Romanian Sport for All Federation was created in 1992 with the goal to democratize sport and make it available to the general population. The development strategy "National Sport for All Programme - Romania 2000" advocates the need to develop a sports policy that changes the attitudes of citizens and ensures healthy and secure conditions for exercise with the overall goal of increased individual well-being. In its brief history, the Federation has managed to promote Sport for All as an issue of national concern, which has a unique role in decision-making in diverse areas of the population's daily lives, such as culture, environment, health, and education.

For the first time, the Fedration will incorporate a health promotion module, focused on physical activity, in their training courses for coaches and teachers in Bistrita from September 6-12, 1999. The event will feature national and international speakers from the USA and Europe. The goal is to prepare professionals for the new developments in the field and concurrent opportunities in Romania. Federation Director Aurelia Suciu emphasized the significance of physical activity for the well-being of the population: "We need to raise awareness and educate our people to adopt healthy lifestyles, in particular sports and physical activity. It is a social priority."

 

Health Promotion in Academia and the Workplace

In addition to the efforts of the Sport for All Federation, the Faculty of Physical Education and Sport at Ovidius University in Constanta is in the process of bringing health promotion to the campus and making it part of the curriculum. Prof. George Dumitru has been cooperating with international researchers and lecturers for years and has devoted himself to bringing health promotion concepts and materials to the University. In recent discussions with Rector Adrian Bavaru and Dean Victor Albu, the need for students to be trained in health promotion was underlined. Furthermore, a health promotion program for faculty and staff (the first of its kind in Romania) is currently being developed. The program will include educational materials, awareness raising, health risk analysis, and fitness programming.

Finally, preliminary plans are being made to offer health programs to the employees at Banca Commerciala Romana at the headquarters in Bucharest and in Constanta. Dr. Dumitru displays an optimistic, yet realistic, perspective on these budding initiatives: "In my mind, it is a matter of time for health promotion to take a grip on Romanian society. We have big economic problems and it will be a slow process, but we cannot afford to ignore this global trend."

 

Dr. George Dumitru is a lecturer at the Faculty of Physical Education and Sport at Ovidius University in Constanta and can be contacted at 40-41-661950 (tel) or 40-41-655485 (fax). The Romanian Sport for All Federation can be reached in Bucharest at 40-1-2111835 (tel) or 40-1-2100161 (fax). Wolf Kirsten, Program Manager of the IIHP, can be reached by phone: 1-202-885-6218, fax: 1-202-885-1346, or e-mail: wk1861a@american.edu.

 
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