The quality of medical services provided to women and child on the left bank of the Nistru River has improved considerably. Thanks to the intervention of development partners, the maternity departments in three hospitals were renovated and equipped with modern equipment, and the medical staff received training. The perinatal system on the eastern side of the Nistru has been upgraded within the framework of a set of projects implemented by three UN agencies – UNDP, UNICEF and WHO – with the financial support of the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC) and of the European Union (EU).

The achievements of the projects have been showcased at a ceremony re-opening the newly refurbished maternity department of the Slobozia District Hospital.

"Switzerland has a successful experience in providing technical and financial support, aimed at modernizing health care services in perinatology and paediatric emergency care. That is why we are convinced, that this project is an important step towards development of high-quality health care services for people in this area, and more importantly, to achieving better indicators of women's and child health”, said Simone Giger, head of the SDC Office in Moldova.

"The EU is supporting mothers and children as well as other patients on both banks of the Nistru River renovating and modernizing the hospitals and improving the quality of treatment", said Aneil Singh, First Counsellor, Head of Cooperation, EUD.

"Investing in the health of mothers and children means a prosperous and secure future for us all. We are glad that together with our local and development partners - the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation and the European Union – we can contribute not just to improving the quality of medical services, but also to building a better future for the people on both banks of the Nistru River”, said Dafina Gercheva, UN Resident Coordinator and UNDP Resident Representative for Moldova.

Since the beginning of 2015, more than five thousand mothers and newborns benefitted from better conditions in these modernized institutions.

"It is important to ensure equal access to quality maternity care for women of different socio-economic status. This project brings to all women a high quality maternity care by trained health specialists in better-equipped health facilities”, said Nune Mangasaryan, UNICEF Representative in Moldova.

The Slobozia hospital was built three decades ago. Since then, its maternity ward has seen only minor facelifts. The need to provide proper conditions for mothers and newborns was growing more and more pressing each day: doors, heating system, plumbing, as well as medical equipment were old and often out of order.

“Now we all enjoy better conditions: mothers, infants and  medical personnel”, said Natalia Solomon, head of the maternity department at the Slobozia Hospital.

The mothers seem to love the new conditions. Those who gave birth previously at this hospital were pleasantly surprised by the changes when they came back here.

The maternity departments at the district hospitals in Ribnita and Grigoriopol were also renovated. These hospitals, in addition to those in Tiraspol and Bender, were provided with 267 items of advanced medical equipment. UNICEF and WHO ran a series of awareness raising campaigns on the importance of immunization and vaccination. As a result, the rate of immunization has increased. Additionally, specialists from seven perinatal institutions in the Transnistrian region were trained by their colleagues from the right side of the Nistru River.

Since 2009, within the Support to Confidence Building Measures Programme, EU offered more than 1,4 million euros to modernize the healthcare system of the left bank and will allocate other two million euros  for projects which will be implemented by WHO. From the beginning of 2013, the Swiss Development and Cooperation Agency offered over $1.5 million for promoting confidence in the healthcare system on the left bank.