Minister of Health Ala Nemerenco says the Ministry has prepared a modernization plan for the Cancer Institute.

“For years, almost nothing has been invested in the equipment of the Cancer Institute. The institution does not have its own tomograph, or an MRI scanner, or modern mammographers. It has a single modern radiotherapy device, which was installed this year. It does not have enough anesthesia or dialysis machines for cancer patients. It does not have many of the things it needs, so it is not surprising that patients have come to wait for months for exams, surgeries and treatments, and this creates an environment conducive to corruption”, Nemerenco posted on Facebook.

“We have already identified all the necessary financial resources. Two modern digital mammographers with tomosynthesis and software have recently been bought - one for Chisinau Cancer Institute and another for SC Balti - and are to be installed now in the summer. For other equipment in the list above we start the procurement procedures. As the tender procedures take time, we have decided for CNAM to contract an additional 2000 high-resolution scans, such as tomography and magnetic resonance imaging, in order to initiate the treatments as soon as possible”, the minister added. The total value of the contracts is about 4.8 million lei.

“I will do more than I can for this institution to become a respected element in the health care system, which no one would no longer dread. Honestly, it is easier for me to find funds to provide the institution with the best equipment, but it is harder to uproot some bad practices encountered there. But I believe in the power of goodness and in those good and honest professionals who work in this Institute, and that we, the inhabitants of this beautiful and long-suffering country, are able to take our destiny into our own hands”, wrote Ala Nemerenco.

The National Anticorruption Center has recently arrested a department head at the Cancer Institute for allegedly booking a patient to receive treatment for a 2,000 euros bribe. The Center’s spokesperson Rodica Tomașenco later said she was suspended from the job after she declared on television that akin to cancer, corruption must be uprooted from the health care system.