The number of medical leaves granted last year in Romania dropped by 45 percent compared to 2009 following the introduction of a stricter system, the Health Ministry said in a press release Thursday.  As many as 2.9 million medical leave certificates were granted between January 1 and November 30 in 2009, only 1.6 million certificates were issued in the same interval in 2010, the ministry said.

"This significant drop in the number of medical leave certificates confirms that the sector had been confronted with fraud. It was inadmissible that about 6 percent of the national health insurance fund was spent on medical leaves in 2009, many of which were unjustified. We've reconsidered the system to end abuse and ensure medical leave certificates are issued only to people who really need them," Health Minister Cseke Attila said in the release.

Between January 1 and November 30, 2010, family physicians issued 821,184 medical certificates, 51 percent fewer compared to 1.6 million certificates issued in the same interval in 2009. The new system, introduced last year, includes more efficient means to check the issuance of medical leave certificates and doubles fines for fraud in the sector. The new system also allows authorities and employers to check whether the patient on medical leave requires, in fact, medical attention.

Mediafax