The United Nations Special Rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights Magdalena Sepúlveda called on the Moldovan authorities to adopt urgent measures to attain social inclusion in the country, including to ensure the protection of human rights at the medical facility in Pavlovca, Briceni district, IPN reports.

The Special Rapporteur visited the medical facility, including tuberculosis and anti-addition wards. “The conditions in this institution constitute immediate threats to the life and health of its residents,” she said. “I urged its immediate closure.”

In a news conference, Magdalena Sepúlveda presented her preliminary report on extreme poverty and human rights in Moldova. She said that persons suffering from different diseases are treated in tuberculosis wards where there are 11 patients and ten beds. The persons who are admitted to the medical facility in Pavlovca to be treated for sensitive tuberculosis catch mortal forms of this disease.

“There is conclusive evidence that the patients are taken to work a land that is 15 hectares in area. Many of the patients working in the fields are dying, while the institution’s doctors say that the field work is in fact occupational therapy that is not remunerated,” said the Special Rapporteur.

Magdalena Sepulveda also said that according to her information, the medical facility in Pavlovca hasn’t been accredited by the Ministry of Health and it should be thus closed immediately. All the patients must benefit from appropriate treatment at other institutions or at home, depending on their state of health. If the proofs show that the human rights were flagrantly violated, the persons in charge must be held accountable.

The United Nations Special Rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights Magdalena Sepúlveda has paid a visit to Moldova on September 8 – 14, at the initiative of the Moldovan Government. She will present a comprehensive report with her final findings and recommendations to the UN Human Rights Council in June 2014.