Half of the deaths in Romania and Latvia could be avoided in light of the current medical knowledge and technology. The proportions of potentially avoidable deaths through health care among all deaths of persons aged less than 75 vary considerably between EU Member States, with France having the lowest rate.

According to Eurostat, the statistical office of the European Union, the highest share of avoidable deaths are registered in Romania (49.4%) and Latvia (48.5%), followed by Lithuania (45.4%) and Slovakia (44.6%). On the other hand, the share was below 30% in France (23.8%), ahead of Denmark (27.1%), Belgium (27.5%) and the Netherlands (29.1%).

Beginning of May, there were protest in Bucharest against conditions in Romanian hospitals after public pressure prompted the health ministry to publish data showing that roughly 20 % of tested hospitals were using diluted disinfectants. Romanian prosecutors have indicted a pharmaceutical company on charges that the disinfectants they manufactured failed to fight disease.