Chisinau summer camps face shortage of medical personnel

Almost 26,000 children from Chisinau will spend their summer holidays in camps, including 6,000 in daytime camps within educational institutions and 20,000 in resort establishments outside the city. The head of the General Division for Education, Youth and Sports, Tatiana Tverdohleb, said on Friday, May 25, at a press conference, that the municipal budget will spend MDL 23.4 mln for the organisation of the children’s summer holidays, which includes costs for repair works and preparation of the camps. Daily nutrition for children in daytime camps will cost MDL 25 and in camps from outside Chisinau – MDL 50. This year, one in four children in Chisinau will spend summer holidays in camps. Tatiana Tverdohleb says that in the next years this percentage could grow due to a potential restoration of previously non-functional camps. Up to his moment, there are no camps that have been given a vet authorisation because their preparation is still in progress, as Iurie Cojocaru, representative of the Municipal Centre for Prophylactic Medicine said during the same press conference. The of the camps will be evaluated in the next future. According to Cojocaru, several camps are poorly endowed, including with frigorific equipment. This year, a serious issue is the shortage of medical personnel in daytime camps. Iurie Cojocaru says that the worst situation is in Buiucani District. The number of children expected to stay in camps this summer increased by 700 compared to 2006. The fees for daytime camps (15 days period) will be of MDL 400 for every child, and the parents will have to pay only 20% - that is MDL 80. The fees for camps from outside Chisinau will cost MDL 1000-1300 and the parents will have to pay about MDL 200. 25% of the tickets for camps will be given free of charge to underprivileged children.