MOLDPRES INTERVIEW/ Moldovan health minister says increase in salaries of medical system employees priority of Health Ministry

Chisinau, 29 December /MOLDPRES/ - Interview given exclusively with the MOLDPRES State News Agency by Health Minister Ala Nemerenco.   

MOLDPRES: Mrs. Nemerenco, we are at the end of the year. If you would make a retrospective of the 2024 year, which are the most important achievements of the Health Ministry?

Ala Nemerenco: This year, just as in the years before, along with the ministry’s partners and colleagues, we continued investing in the modernization of the health system, in order to improve the quality of the medical services and bring them closer to people. 

Starting from the 2023 year, Moldova has made progress and developed, for the first time ever, a national network of centres for the treatment of the Cerebral Vascular Accident (CVA), as Moldova is among the first ten countries of the world with the highest death rate caused by CVA. It is important that we prevent the appearance of CVA through the control of the hyper-high blood pressure and of other conditions, as well as are able to intervene when this happens. Thus, 13 centres for CVA’s treatment were opened, of which 11 are primary, one multidisciplinary and one comprehensive. They were endowed with computer tomographs, telemedicine apparatus, Doppler apparatus, EEG, INR express. Presently, each patient, no matter where he/she is, is carried, through the emergency medical assistance service, to a CVA centre, not to a district hospital,  which is not endowed with medical equipment for such cases. The goal is to investigate him/her and, if possible, to apply him/her a thrombolytic treatment or to urgently carry him to one of the centres from Chisinau for mechanical thrombo-extraction. In the next years, we expect a decrease in the indexes of death rate and of the serious disability caused by this disease.          

Also, this year, the Health Ministry, in partnership with the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), finished the implementation of a large-scale project on the endowment of 12 perinatal centres nationally, with last generation medical equipment, furniture, kits and consumables, with the birth rooms, obstetric  operation rooms, intensive therapy units for new-born children, wards for post-operation waking up for women and the blood transfusion sections being fully modernized. Thus, even the perinatal centres placed in districts presently have incubators for new-born children, ventilators, equipment for resuscitation. Nine out of these centres were endowed also with A-type ambulances.      

Since the beginning of this year, each new-born child from Moldova has been benefiting from the verification of the hearing through hearing screening, which allows early detection of the hearing diseases and preventing the cases of deafness. This is an absolutely free of charge investigation, accessible in each maternity hospital of the country. To this end, the Health Ministry distributed 40 neonatal hearing screening equipment in all perinatal centres, with the support of the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and financing on behalf of the government of Japan.    

The Health Ministry distributed to hospitals 40 stations for producing medical oxygen, which are essential for enhancing the institutions’ capacity to treat patients in critical condition, as well as for being much more prepared to cope with eventual pandemics.  

Also this year, more medical and sanitary institutions from Moldova were endowed with biplane angiographs, magnetic resonance, brachytherapy equipment for cancer treatment, highly advanced ultrasound apparatus, radiography apparatus, including with arm, equipment for sterilization, anesthesia apparatus, operation tables, laparoscopes, mobile stretchers, defibrillators, etc. The equipment allows physicians carrying out accurate and detailed investigations and operations, contributing to the improvement of the quality of medical services provided to patients. In 2022 and 2023, we provided the hospitals with electric generators.         

At the same time, the modernization of the health system is also a priority, as it is the one to respond to all crises. This year, we capitally repaired the headquarters of the National Public Health Agency (ANSP), of the public health centres from Balti and Cahul, as well as of the Donduseni Subdivision of the Edinet public health centre. Most of them will be soon inaugurated.    

The sections of different profile were renovated at the highest standards, among which 11 sections of reanimation and intensive therapy, surgery pediatrics, chronic diseases, psychiatry, operation rooms, birth rooms, auxiliary rooms, emergency medical assistance stations and points, consultative centres and food units.    

Over 50 drug stores have been already opened in more settlements from various districts, with the Drug Store in your Village programme, subsidized by the government. 

The purchasing of new ambulances stays a permanent priority for the Health Ministry, as the park of ambulances must be always renewed. This year, 65 new ambulances were bought. I mention the fact that, in the last two years, the ministry, from different sources, endowed with emergency medical assistance service with 209 new ambulances of all types, from the A category up to resuscitation vehicles of the C type. 

MOLDPRES: Mrs. Health Minister, which are the priorities established for the next year?

Ala Nemerenco: During the 2024 year, I paid more official visits to different countries, where I had meetings with our partners. Recently in Vienna, I had a dialogue with Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Rafael Mariano Grossi, during which we pointed out also new perspectives of cooperation. Thus, IAEA will send to Moldova a special mission which will evaluate the oncological sector. The report elaborated will serve as a fundament for the creation of the national programme on cancer for the next ten years, as well as for facilitating the process of identification of the partners due to invest in the solutions of treatment against cancer.  

We established more priorities for the next year, in order to develop and modernize the medical system of Moldova, as well as to provide the medical staff and the patients with qualitative conditions for work and medical services. Thus, we will continue developing the emergency system; we will initiate the designing of the departments and sections of rehabilitation at ten hospitals from Moldova and will enhance the patients’ access to diagnosing services both of laboratory and imagistic, following the recent massive endowment of medical institutions.    

In the next year, the ministry will pay more attention to the primary medical assistance field, especially to the way of work of the health centres in the rural areas. It is quite important that we decrease the volume of work and responsibility of the family physicians, as well as enhance the patients’ access to primary medicine services. As usual, people’s discontent appears, given that the things are not settled quickly, that they do now know to what they have free of charge or not.  We set to goal also to reach as many people as possible, inform them correctly, discuss as much as possible about the conditioning, payments and rights.    

MOLDPRES: The lack of qualified specialists is felt especially in districts. How do you persuade young specialists to go to work in villages?  

Ala Nemerenco: The Health Ministry makes efforts to create good conditions for work for young specialists in medicine. To attract and keep them in the medical system, especially in villages, the one-off allowance was increased to 250,000 lei. Its beneficiaries are physicians, pharmacists and specialists with higher degree education in the medical field, who will be employed according to the distribution of the Health Ministry. Moreover, the young specialists benefit from the compensation of the expenses for renting the dwelling and for the consumption of thermal and electric energy in the first five years of work.    

Also in the last autumn, decision-makers approved the Regulation on the way of  establishment and providing of the compensation for the transport expenses of the medical, sanitary and pharmaceutical employees. About 3,000 medical employees benefit from compensations.  

The increase in salaries of the medical system employees is a priority of the Health Ministry. During my entire mandate, we have made increases in salaries in the 2021, 2022 and 2023 years. So, starting from 1 January 2025, the salaries of the employees from the public medical and sanitary institutions part of the health insurances system will grow by 15 per cent and the salaries of the medical staff from the public sector institutions subordinated to the ministry will increase by ten per cent.  

It is worth mentioning that, due to the creation of the best conditions for work, through the modernization and endowment of medical institutions with advanced equipment and devices, ever more young specialists choose to work in hospitals outside the Chisinau municipality.   

MOLDPRES: The list of compensated medicines was extended. Is the introduction of new preparations planned in this list in the 2025 year?  

Ala Nemerenco: Yes, the list of new compensated medicines was extended. The average compensated sum for one beneficiary increased significantly, by 371 lei. The growth of this compensated sum shows the health system’s efforts to reduce the financial burden on patients, especially for those with chronic diseases, who need permanent essential treatments.  

Also, the number of drug stores which issue compensated medicines increased by 286 against December 2023, which shows a significant progress in the extension of the access to pharmaceutical services.   

It is worth to be mentioned that, for the first time ever, in 2024, the compensated e-Receipt was implemented, marking the digitalization of the process of prescribing and issuing of compensated medication.    

In the 2025 year, the Health Ministry plans to extend the access to treatments for priority diseases, with a significant impact on the population’s health. The mental health, the chronic and neurological diseases and the palliative cares are some of the strategic directions.  

Also, in the next year, we are set to improve the access of patients sick with diabetes and those with urinary retention to essential necessary medical devices. Presently, decision-makers consider financial possibilities, the number of eligible patients, in order to take the decision on compensation in the long run. These measures show the commitment to support the patients with special needs and to prevent costly complications for long term, ensuring, at the same time, an efficient management of the financial resources.   

MOLDPRES: In the last years, more medical institutions of Moldova have been endowed with electric generators and stations for production of medical oxygen. Are there institutions which do not have electric generators?   

Ala Nemerenco: Indeed, in the last years, the medical system of Moldova has benefited from a comprehensive process of consolidation of energy capacities – an essential measure for ensuring the continuous work of the medical institutions, especially in the context of the current challenges in the energy sector. The Health Ministry, with the support of the foreign partners, endowed all hospital public medical and sanitary institutions of the country with electric generators.  

This achievement was possible including due to the financial support provided by the governments of more friendly countries of Moldova. Most generators were brought to Moldova through the European Union’s Civil Protection Mechanism (Poland, France), as well as donations by international organizations, such as the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF).    

Presently, the hospitals have 201 generators of electric energy.   

Thus, the work of the hospitals will be ensured by generators only in emergency situations and, as priority, in the emergency reception units, hospitals’ reanimation and intensive therapy sections, as they consume a lot of fuel and their supply is costly.    

MOLDPRES: One of the major projects announced when you took over the office of health minister was the construction of two regional hospitals, in the Balti and Cahul municipalities, in order to provide medical assistance at modern standards to the residents from northern and southern Moldova. At what stage these projects are?  

Ala Nemerenco: At present, both projects are at different stages of designing and assessment.

As for the Balti regional Hospital, the feasibility study was finished and the phase of approval of financing by the Council of Europe Development Bank was passed. The ground for the hospital was switched to the state property and presently, decision-makers carry out the procedure of procurements of the conceptual technical project, which will allow designing the institution and carrying out the construction works.    

As far as the Cahul regional Hospital is concerned, the feasibility study was finished ant the conceptual technical design is at the final stage, which will allow designing the hospital and carrying out the construction works. Also, all phases of internal evaluation were finished, which allow submitting the project to the European Investment Bank for the approval of its financing. The construction of both regional hospitals is scheduled to start in the summer of the 2026 year.    

Mrs. Health Minister Ala Nemerenco, thank you for the interview.