The first Mental Health Community Center based on Flexible Assertive Community Treatment  (FACT) was opened in Cimislia. This methodology is successfully used in the UK, the Netherlands and the United States to provide mental health services with the support of a multidisciplinary team. The FACT teams that will operate in Moldova will consist of a psychiatrist, medical assistants and social workers, a psychologist and a therapist, IPN reports.

The Center in Cimislia was opened within the Reform of the Mental Health Services in Moldova Project that is piloted in four districts, namely Cimislia, Cahul, Orhei, and Soroca. The project is implemented by an international consortium led by the Netherlands Institute for Mental Health and Addiction (Trimbos Institute), the Netherlands Institute for Health Services Research, the Romanian League for Mental Health and Luzern Psychiatrie, with financial support from the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation.

Trimbos Moldova executive director Victoria Condrat in the inaugural ceremony said the goal of this stage of the reform of the mental health services in the community is for the beneficiaries from the four pilot districts to have access to appropriate community services in accordance with their needs.

Alexandru Ciobanu, psychotherapist and coordinator of the Center in Cimislia, said the opening of this Center represents a change in the approach to mental health problems and an additional chance for the people suffering from mental disorders to receive treatment. There are now 2,000 beneficiaries, 15% of whom suffer from severe mental disorders.

The four-year Reform of the Mental Health Services in Moldova Project has a budget of 5.78 million Swiss francs and will be completed in 2018.