Worrying statistics: Over 300 communes in Romania have no family doctors

More than 300 communes in Romania have no family doctors, a situation that affects almost 560,000 people. In addition, over 1,400 localities (communes and cities) don’t have enough such physicians.

Doctor Catalin Petrencic from the National Federation of Family Physicians Employer Organizations has made a map revealing the Romanian citizens’ access to primary healthcare services provided by family doctors.

“A total of 328 localities (communes) do not have any family doctors. Based on their population, these localities would need 376 family doctors. The total population of these communes is 559,611 inhabitants - that is, 2.52% of the population of Romania,” the document revealed, according to local Agerpres.

Meanwhile, 1,414 localities (communes and cities) have a total deficit of 2,187 family doctors. Although 28 localities have more than 3,000 inhabitants, they do not have the 64 family doctors needed. Meanwhile, of the 76 localities with less than 900 inhabitants, only 30 have a family doctor.

“Only 1,496 localities in Romania (47%) don’t face a shortage of family doctors. There are 3,181 localities - communes, cities, municipalities in Romania. A total of 2,490 family doctors provide in these localities access to primary healthcare services for a population of 4.62 million inhabitants,” the analysis showed.

Meanwhile, 271 localities have a total surplus of 575 family doctors. These localities are both cities and communes, the largest surplus being in Bucharest - 100 family doctors.

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