Italian heart surgeon Alessandro Frigiola will operate a number of newborns with congenital heart defects in Chisinau. He will be assisted by Italian and Moldovan doctors. Minister of Health Andrei Usatyi has told IPN that 250-300 children are born annually in Moldova with such defects. As the Moldovan surgeons do not have the necessary medical equipment and experience in the field, the children undergo operations abroad. The problem will be solved when the new surgery block of the National Clinical Hospital is put into operation.

“It’s not easy to operate a child weighing over 2 kg. We are now operating only children with a weight of over 10 kg as we do not have the necessary experience and conditions for surgeries on smaller kids. The new surgery block meets all the conditions for performing heart surgeries on newborns,” said the minister.

According to Andrei Usatyi, talks are being carried out with a medical institution from Milan so as to allow the Moldovan doctors to learn from the Italian experience as soon as possible. Alessandro Frigiola, who is expected to come to Chisinau, is considered one of the best specialists in heart surgery on newborns.

The authorities will present the heart surgery project to a number of EU organizations so as to obtain financing. In order to ensure the regularity of surgeries, the Moldova authorities will cover the accommodation and travel expenses of the Italian doctors who will come to Chisinau in 3-4 days. In the period, they will perform difficult heart surgeries and will give lectures to Moldovan doctors and residents.

Now the parents pay about €10,000-€20,000 for a heart surgery on children. The state does not have money to cover the costs of operations from the budget of National Health Insurance Company.