On 28 November 2023 in Bucharest, Romanian partners together with the Council of Europe marked the successful completion of the Project “Strengthening the provision of health care and mental health care in prisons in Romania” and announced its continuation.

The Project was launched in January 2022 and supported authorities in improving the provision of health care to prisoners as well as of appropriate psychiatric care in line with the Council of Europe standards and European Court of Human Rights case law. The Project partners and beneficiary institutions included the Ministry of Justice, National Administration of Penitentiaries and Ministry of Health.

Director General of the National Administration of Penitentiaries, Mr Dan Halchin and the State Secretary of the Ministry of Health, Mr Tiberius Marius Brădățan highlighted the Project’s important contribution in tackling the challenges hindering efficient provision of health care in penitentiary institutions, acknowledged the need for further work and welcomed continuation of the cooperation with the Council of Europe.

The second phase of the project, starting from January 2024, will build upon the results already achieved and assist the authorities to make further steps towards the efficient provision of health care in closed institutions in line with the European standards.