Around 1,900 hip and knee replacement operations covered under the national mandatory health insurance scheme were performed in the first half of this year. This is by nearly 180 surgeries more than in the same period last year, the National Health Insurance Company reported.

The Company said it spent 114 million lei on these surgeries, including expensive consumables. The amount is by about 38 million lei higher compared to the first semester of 2021.

Moreover, the waiting times for hip replacement operations dropped from 12 to 2-3 months.

Prosthetic operations on large joints are carried out in 19 health care institutions contracted under the scheme, including 14 public ones. In 2022, around 220 million lei are planned for large joint prosthetic surgeries.