Tuberculosis in Romania: a devastating revival of a destructive disease

I spent two months on an ERASMUS programme learning about aspects of health and health care in Romania's capital, Bucharest. My first day in the Institute of Pneumology was something of an initiation, due to it being a saint's day, with undeniably stylish celebrations. By 11 am, the mess-office-changing room (an all purpose space with broken chairs and huge grey lockers) was full of cakes and bottles of beer, and an hour later the room smelt strongly of alcohol and tobacco. A Romanian doctor joked that it smelt like an English pub, and I had to agree. After the second day, I realised that the party had been a one off, and not the average coffee break. Although the celebrations demonstrated the Romanian sociability and joviality, the day to day activities of the hospital were very different.