Romania's health care system is on the brink of collapse. A lack of basic medical equipment such as syringes and cannulas means that crucial operations are often out of the question,and funds for expensive procedures such as transplants have also run out.Staff have been ordered to take time off and many doctors and nurses at state hospitals work only part-time. Chemists are slowly going out of business because health care providers can't afford to approve prescriptions. Increasingly,medicine is being bought over the counter in cash.