A lot of 200 ventilators purchased within the World Bank’s Moldova COVID-19 Emergency Response Project will be distributed to intensive care units of national and district medical institutions so as to cope with the large number of patients who need mechanical ventilation, IPN reports, quoting the Ministry of Health.

“This is a large lot that will strengthen the capacities of the intensive care units so as to cope with the pandemic and to offer medical assistance to all the patients,” said secretary of state at the Ministry of Health Igor Curov.

“Saved lives mean up-to-the-minute protective medical equipment and modern working conditions. We do this – we make effort for the health system of Moldova to cope with any pandemic in the future,” said project coordinator Natalia Belicov.

According to the Ministry, since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, the national hospitals experienced a shortage of ventilators, but, owing to the WB project, equipment and devices were bought as a matter of urgency to cope with the flow of patients. Currently, 16 of the 109 patients in a very serious state in the national hospitals are on a ventilator.

The World Bank’s Moldova COVID-19 Emergency Response Project was launched on May 28, 2020, with €30 million being allocated for strengthening the health system. A number of 292 ventilators have been bought within this project so far.