The Mother and Child Institute necessitates repair works to the value of €1 million. The money is needed for renovating and modernizing the Institute’s buildings and for outfitting them with medical equipment. Currently, the maternity hospital does not have conditions for difficult deliveries and a prenatal screening center to identify problematic pregnancies and to intervene beforehand to avoid giving of birth to children with disabilities, IPN reports.

Director of the Mother and Child Institute Stefan Gatcan in public debates said that almost 2 million lei has been collected within the fundraising campaign “Revive Moldova” that was launched at the start of April. The money is already used to perform modernization works. The Institute’s maternity hospital is the only one of its kind in Moldova because it combines treatment with training and scientific research. No works have been done to maintain the buildings during 32 years.

According to Stefan Gatcan, the hospital has professional doctors, but modern medical equipment is needed in order to make progress. “It’s hard when the medical technology and equipment do not meet the requirements,” he stated.

Valeriu Sava, health programs coordinator at the Swiss Cooperation Office in Moldova, highlighted the discrepancy between the resources invested in the quality of the medical staff and the lack of technologies, saying this is a problem faced not only by the Mother and Child Institute, but also by other medical institutions of the country.

Boris Galca, Deputy Representative of the United Nations Population Fund, said the state should become involved to a greater extent. UNICEF Program Coordinator Angela Capcelea underlined that a series of policies are needed to increase the capacity of the national hospitals, including the Transnistrian ones. The immunization and disabled children inclusion services must be improved.

More than 240,000 people are annually examined at the Mother and Child Institute. Of them, about 44,000 are hospitalized.