Moldova’s development partners call on the Government to include the approval of the law on tobacco control and the law on alcohol control in the measures that are to be taken during the next 100 days. “The sooner these laws are adopted, the faster will we obtain positive results in reducing the premature death rate among the population,” Ghenadie Turcanu, program coordinator at the Center for Health Policy and Research, stated for IPN.
He noted that 5,500 people die prematurely in Moldova every year owing to diseases associated with smoking, while another 3,000 people die because they abuse alcohol. The annex to the Association Agreement with the EU provides how the taxes on cigarettes and alcohol should be raised gradually so that the tax per 1,000 cigarettes is €95 in 2021. To reach such a figure, the taxes must be increased annually by 30-40%. But there is no political will in this respect.
As regards the development partners’ demand to swiftly implement the national health strategy that covers the reform of public hospitals, Ghenadie Turcanu said this directly affects the interests of some of the politicians. Some of the parties in the election campaign said it trenchantly that they are against the reform of the public hospitals, especially the implementation of the common hospital management system.
“The development partners do not ask closing the hospitals or reducing the number of beds. They request that a part of the 40 public hospitals of the country should have a common management so that there are not 40 chief accountants, 40 directors, 100 vice directors and many other managers. The development partners point to the inefficient use of our money a part of which is used to pay an army of managers,” stated Ghenadie Turcanu.
Ambassadors working in Chisinau and chiefs of cooperation organizations on March 4 presented a document with recommendations concerning the policies that need to be pursued to the Government. It is a common initiative of the development partners, aimed at helping the authorities cope with the challenges in Moldova’s development.
