National Mental Health Center was opened in Chisinau
National Mental Health Center (NMHC) was opened in the Republic of Moldova. The new institution will offer assistance necessary for people with mental health problems from Chisinau and regions and will coordinate the activity of those five mental health centers from the country. NMHC was opened in the framework of the project “Development of the system of community-based mental health services in Moldova (stage II)”, funded by Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC) in partnership with the Ministry of Health. The project was implemented by the Association „Somato”, based in Balti.
The new Mental Health Center is situated in the building of Clinical Psychiatric Hospital (former psychiatry chair) in Chisinau (str. Costiujeni nr.3).
The Director of the Psychiatric Hospital, Mihai Hotineanu, the major specialist in psychiatry from the Ministry of Health, said that the opening of NMHC is very important given that the number of people with mental health problems in Moldova is increasing. “The Center will be a modern platform for treatment, prophylaxis and psychosocial rehabilitation of patients with mental and behavioral disorders”, mentioned Mihai Hotineanu.
The President of the Association „Somato”, Jana Chihai, said that NMHC is a strategic institution in mental health because it will coordinate the activity of those five mental health centers from the country and those that will be opened in the future. “Moreover, daily NMHC will offer services to about 50 people with mental health problems from Chisinau” said Jana Chihai.
NMHC objectives also include elaboration of policies and strategies for development of mental health services, scientific research in this field.
National Mental Health Center is made up of five departments (● Department of Evaluation and Monitoring, Programs and Policies; ● Department of mental health services management; ● Research and Development Department; ● Training Department and ● Clinical Department).
According to official statistical data, at the beginning of the current year in the Republic of Moldova there are about 55.4 thousand of patients under dispenser observation. In Chisinau there are over 8.2 thousand people with mental health problems, of which about 1900 are children.