On the World Health Day, the Swiss Cooperation Office in the Republic of Moldova, through the "Healthy life: reducing the burden of noncommunicable diseases" project, donated 197 electrocardiographs and 445 pulse oximeters to examine patients with chronic diseases. The essential medical devices will be used in rooms for triage from 142 Health Centers in 25 districts of the republic that implement the Package of essential interventions in non-communicable diseases of the World Health Organization for family doctors (standardized clinical protocols PEN no. 1 and PEN no. 2)*. The donation event took place at Straseni Health Center.

"The donation from Switzerland to equip primary health care rooms of triage is an important support for family medicine, which contributes directly to increasing the quality of patient examination by assessing risks and detecting cardiovascular diseases, diabetes and chronic respiratory diseases, as well as to preventing their potentially life-threatening complications.", Mr. Ion Prisacaru, State Secretary for Integrated Medical Services Policy of the Ministry of Health of the Republic of Moldova, mentioned at the opening of the event.

The objective of the Ministry of Health is to implement the standardized clinical protocols PEN no. 1 and PEN no. 2 countrywide, and we thank Switzerland that through the "Healthy life" project comes to support our efforts to reduce the burden of NCDs among population, and especially the population in rural areas, who suffer most often from these diseases.

Diseases of the circulatory system, especially hypertension and type 2 diabetes (acquired during life) are the main diseases that contribute to the illness and death of Moldovans. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), every fourth person in the Republic of Moldova dies prematurely due to NCD.

The official donation event was followed by a technical training on the appropriate use of electrocardiographs by simulating medical examination, which was attended by 20 family doctors and nurses from Straseni, Vorniceni and Cojusna Health Centers. Such technical training will be conducted in each of 142 Health Centers in 25 districts of the republic that implement WHO standardized clinical protocols for family doctors.

The donated electrocardiographs having 12 channels and the options for measuring, analyzing, interpreting and storing the data of the heart’s electrical activity and robust pulse oximeters designed to measure oxygen saturation in the blood (check how well the heart pumps oxygenated blood through the body) can be used in rooms for triage, as well as in clinical conditions. The total value of this donation is 330 670,00 Swiss Francs.

The project "Healthy Life: Reducing the Burden of Noncommunicable Diseases" is funded by the Swiss Cooperation Office and implemented by the Swiss Tropical and Public Health Institute. The project provides support to the Ministry of Health and the National Agency for Public Health of the Republic of Moldova. Switzerland is one of the largest bilateral grant donors in the health sector of the Republic of Moldova.