From next year, the children suffering from leukemia in Moldova will be subject to bone marrow transplants at the Chisinau Oncology Institute. These operations will be performed in Moldova for the first time and will be possible owing to the creation of a transplant center.

Contacted by IPN, the Oncology Institute’s director Victor Cernat said the institution became beneficiary of a large-scale project that envisions the renovation of the hematological block and the creation of a transplant center. The works cost 7 million lei and the money will be allocated by the Ministry of Health and the National Health Insurance Company. An Austrian project will contribute to the setting up of the center. Earlier, within the same project, the Oncology Institute created an educational center for hospitalized children and five sterile boxes.

Victor Cernat said the equipment for the transplant center, which is very costly, will be bought through the agency of a project of the Japan International Cooperation Agency that will provide a loan of €60 million for renovating and improving the quality of services in six medical institutions. The Oncology Institute is one of the beneficiaries of this project. A sum of 10-12 million lei is needed for purchasing surgical and resuscitation equipment. The creation of the transplant center is the only possibility of performing bone marrow transplant operations in children in Moldova.

The renovation works will be extended to the hematological reanimatology section and three hematology sections. Such extensive repair works are performed for the first time since 1960.