Raed Arafat resumes position

The doctor Raed Arafat confirmed in a press conference that he had agreed to return to the office of Secretary of State for Health, following discussions with President Traian Băsescu and the Prime Minister of Romania, Emil Boc.

‘A few days ago I resigned for a clear reason and I said then that if I could freely discuss The Health Law, I would return to the ministry.’

‘The reason I left the Ministry of Health does not exist any longer, the law project has been withdrawn’, Raed Arafat said.

The founder of the Mobile Emergency and Intensive Therapy Service (SMURD) in Romania said that he returned to a more difficult position, because expectations would be higher, but he believes that this thing would lead to a better development of the emergency system.

Raed Arafat emphasised that he would take part in the making of the new project of the Health Law, particularly in the area of ​​the emergency system.

Regarding the protests that took place in several cities around the country, the official said he was shocked by the people’s support and confidence and he underlined that the manifests had shown him that people trusted the current emergency system.

‘The protests started for my support, but now is a political and social problem which should be solved at a political and social level. If at the beginning the population was for Dr Arafat, now there are some more complex implications’, the founder of SMURD assigned.

Raed Arafat resigned from the position of Undersecretary of State for Health on 10 January.

At that time, he argued that by leaving the Ministry of Health he would be able to protect better the emergency system.

Translated by: Gabriela Moateru
MTTLC student, University of Bucharest