Health Ministry will purchase medical equipment for rural settlements

The European Commission will allocate 6 mln euros to the Republic of Moldova to reform the primary health care system and to acquire equipment for rural health care institutions. The project “Support to Health Reform. Strengthening of Primary Health Care in Moldova” will be implemented from 2008 in parallel with the Health Services and Social Assistance Project for Moldova that was recently launched by the World Bank. The European Commission’s project was discussed in parallel with the World Bank’s project in order to avoid the doubling of activities in the primary health care system, a communiqué from the Health Ministry says. The two projects are aimed at developing and strengthening health care in rural areas. On 3 July 2007, the interim director of the World Bank Office in Chisinau Ala Panzari and Minister of Finance Mihai Pop signed a lending agreement for financing the Health Services and Social Assistance Project in Moldova. The $17 mln credit is repayable in 40 years at a zero interest rate.