Moldova joins WHO Statement on mental health care

Republic of Moldova joined the “European Statement on Mentally Disabled Children and Youth and their Families”. The statement was signed by 53 Ministers of Health Care of the European Region of World Health Organization. The event was recently held in Bucharest, along with the reunion of Regional Directors of World Health Organization. The document was signed by the Romanian Minister of Health Care, Cseke Attila, on the one hand, and the European regional director of WHO, Zsuzsanna Jakab, on the other hand, on behalf of 53 signatory states. The document was also signed by UNICEF for Central and Eastern Europe and CIS. The document provides a large platform for a larger responsibility of the authorities of WHO member states in the child care reform.

WHO and UNICEF will sign a joint letter addressed to governments from the region to underline the importance of the document and encourage the development of related national plans.

During the Bucharest reunion, WHO concluded that, despite the progress in creating community-based services, disabled children are often the last to be provided better care. Fighting stigma and discrimination should become a priority.

The parties of the Bucharest forum also adopted an action plan describing measures to improve situation of disabled children and youth from the region.

In September 2011, the WHO Regional Committee will examine the way principles from the document and the action plan adopted in Bucharest are applied.

According to WHO, nearly five million children and young people from WHO European Region had intellectual disabilities. These are just a few of the thousands of children that cannot be found in data base and social assistance structures, that are very few and of bad quality. Over 300 thousand children live in social care institutions, where they stay for good. If nothing is done immediately, their number may grow by approximately 1% per year in the following ten years, according to WHO.

Republic of Moldova is a WHO member since 1992. A WHO office opened in Chisinau in April 1995.