Short History
Our story begins in 1874, with the first public health law of modern Romania, published in Official Gazette No. 131 on June 16. One of its five chapters was dedicated to public hygiene.
Romanian hygiene education was officially inaugurated in 1861 with the establishment of an independent chair of hygiene within the National School of Medicine and Pharmacy in Bucharest. At the initiative of Dr. Carol Davila, this chair was entrusted to Dr. Iacob Felix, who held several positions within the state’s public health administration. He also authored the first volume of the Treatise on Public Hygiene and Sanitary Policy.
Short History
In 1903, the General Association of Physicians of Romania drafted and published a preliminary version of a public health law, arguing that “the foremost duty of the state is to guarantee public health, as it is the foundation of the population’s prosperity.” Consequently, the second public health law of Romania was published in the 1910 Official Gazette.
The Public Health Law established the General Directorate of the Health Service and created the Regional Health Inspectorates and the Rural Public Health Fund. At the same time, hygiene laboratories were also set up, “equipped with all necessary resources, with the purpose of carrying out laboratory investigations required for the scientific diagnosis and prevention of contagious diseases, as well as the sanitary control of food and beverages.”
These laboratories would also serve as centers of learning and research for physicians. Seven state laboratories were to be gradually established: two central laboratories in Bucharest and Iași, and five regional ones in the cities of Craiova, Pitești, Constanța, Galați, and Bacău.
Short History
Only four years after the establishment of the League of Nations Health Organization in Geneva (1923), the Institute of Hygiene and Public Health in Bucharest was founded in 1927 by Royal Decree, with support from the Rockefeller Foundation.
On the basis of the provisions of the Health and Protection Law promulgated on July 4, 1930, the Institute of Hygiene and Public Health was established by Royal High Decree in Iași, the ancient citadel of national history and culture.
The founding act of the Institute of Hygiene and Public Health in Timișoara was signed by Royal Decree on August 10, 1946. Medical education also developed in Cluj through the Chair of Hygiene, led by Dr. Iuliu Moldovan. On July 14, 1930, the Health and Protection Law No. 236 was published in the Official Gazette.
Short History
Article 26 established that the institutes of hygiene and public health serve as technical coordination centers for the health services in their jurisdiction, having legal personality and being available to all relevant institutions.
In 2009, through Law 329 and Government Decision 1414, the National Institute of Public Health was established as a public institution under the authority of the Ministry of Health.
Today, the institution continues its mission of protecting public health, and in 2020, in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic, its efforts were recognized with the “Sanitary Merit” Order, Knight rank, awarded by the President of Romania.
Misiunea INSP
Only four years after the establishment of the League of Nations Health Organization in Geneva (1923), the Institute of Hygiene and Public Health in Bucharest was founded in 1927 by Royal Decree, with support from the Rockefeller Foundation.
On the basis of the provisions of the Health and Protection Law promulgated on July 4, 1930, the Institute of Hygiene and Public Health was established by Royal High Decree in Iași, the ancient citadel of national history and culture.
Viziunea INSP
Viziunea INSP este de a fi principalul pilon al sănătății publice din România, un centru național de excelență în igienă, sănătate publică, cercetare și prevenție, recunoscut pentru profesionalism, rigoare științifică și capacitatea de a răspunde eficient nevoilor de sănătate ale populației.
INSP aspiră să contribuie activ la o societate sănătoasă, informată și rezilientă, în care sănătatea publică reprezintă fundamentul dezvoltării sociale și economice, consolidând în același timp cooperarea națională și internațională și continuând tradiția istorică de inovație și responsabilitate în domeniul sănătății publice.
