Romanian Oscar contender blames corruption for fire survivors’ deaths in hospitals
WHEN a fire broke out in an intensive care unit in the Romanian town of Piatra Neamt last November, most patients were too ill to move. Only charred hospital beds remained after 10 people were left to die.
Three months later 12 more died as flames engulfed the ICU ward in the Matei Bals in Bucharest, the country’s top infectious disease hospital.
The fires served as a tragic reminder that little has changed since a 2015 Bucharest nightclub fire killed 64 people, an event that is now the subject of Colectiv, a critically-acclaimed Oscarnominated film. Despite outrage when it was released in Romania two years ago, the film has barely moved the dial in the country, where rife corruption and chronic mismanagement is blamed for the disturbing trend.
“It’s a system where medicine is the last thing that’s important, the most important thing is how they divide power so they can steal the money,” film director Alexander Nanau told The Sunday Telegraph. “It isn’t something that should happen in a democratic country.”
The documentary, handed two Oscar nominations this week, tells the story of a team of investigative journalists seeking the truth after the 2015 fire.
They discovered that more than half of the 64 who died after the nightclub fire did so in corruption-riddled state hospitals that were using useless, watered-down disinfectants.
Protests erupted in the streets after its release, with demonstrators chanting “Shame on you!” and “Assassins!” at the authorities, while placards carried a clear message: “Corruption Kills.”
“It’s great to have a Romanian film nominated for an Oscar, but it is sad that we are becoming known around the world for our lack of capacity for having a functional public system,” said Csibi Magor, a leadership and culture expert. “We haven’t come a long way since Colectiv,” he added.
Corruption remains endemic. Cash bribes for healthcare workers are widespread. “When my mom was diagnosed with cancer, the doctor who performed surgery on her asked me for €1,500,” said Madalin Sinion, a 40-year-old hotel worker in central Bucharest.
“In Romania we have a saying, ‘pray to god that you don’t need to go to hospital’ – because of the risk of catching infections inside the hospitals.”
Romania’s new government is a coalition led by Florin Citu, the prime minister and head of the National Liberal Party, and it is just three months into a four-year term. Vlad Voiculescu, the health minister, has promised depoliticising the appointment of hospital managers and the construction of new hospitals. Following the hospital fires, the authorities are seeking to access €50 million in EU funding to improve patient safety in hospitals.
Romania’s healthcare system spends the least in the EU on healthcare relative to GDP, at 5.2 per cent – almost half the EU average of 10 per cent.
In the past 30 years in Romania only two public hospitals were built. “We are talking about very, very old infrastructure,” said Vlad Mixich, a Romanian healthcare specialist.
“Colectiv was the first piece of a dominoes game, and the domino pieces are still moving today – you have to wait until all the pieces fall down.
“It may take a decade or even a generation,” he said.