The Conference “SWOT analysis of farmacotherapeutic activity in Republic of Moldova” will take place  on April, 26, 2012.

ICIUM 2011

Pneumonia in the Republic of Moldova
Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eyf0fdRhiJY 
Pneumonia remains a major cause of childhood deaths throughout the world. According to Moldovan National Statistics data, infant mortality due to pneumonia remains stable at third place after malformations and premature birth consequences. From 2001 to 2010, 5973 children under 5 years old died of pneumonia. Among these 4927 (82.4%) were infants under 1 year old.  Infant mortality from pneumonia was 16.3 deaths per 1000 live babies in 2001 compared to 11.7 deaths per 1000 in 2010.  Forty percent of children, who died under the age of 5, died at home, pneumonia being a major cause of death.
 
Most deaths due to pneumonia in infants occurred in rural areas with the rural mortality rate in infants remaining 3-4 times higher than in urban areas during the decade 2001-2010.  A rural-urban difference in mortality rate from pneumonia reflects a wide gap in people’s incomes and a low level of access to health care in rural areas.
 
Children’s deaths from pneumonia in Moldova are especially unfortunate considering that the population growth rate decreased every year from 2001-20010. 
 
Access to Pneumococcal Vaccine
 
Great progress is being made to speed vaccines to the developing world, which is projected to have a tremendous health impact – but there still remains a great need to increase key pneumonia protection and treatment interventions.
Children in Moldova have not, or have had very little, access to powerful pneumonia protection such as a pneumococcal vaccine.  The vaccine Synflorix that helps protect against 10 serotypes of pneumococcus bacteria is being sold in the 4 private pharmacies in Moldova: 3 in Chisinau (the capital) and the other in the north of Moldova (Balt city).  
The price per 4 dosages (3 in the first year) and the 4th in the second year is 313 US dollars. For the majority of the population this is not affordable. For the rural population access to the vaccine is much more difficult taking into consideration additional costs for transportation and unpredictable weather conditions during six months of the year.
 
 
Call to Action
 
Parliament, the government, and all of the civil society of Moldova should protect children from pneumonia.
Children of Moldova should have the same rights as children living in developed
European countries to be protected from pneumonia.
Pneumococcal vaccination should be accessible to all children in Moldova.
Health care authorities should include pneumococcal vaccination in the National Vaccination Plan. 
Children living in rural areas of Moldova should have special attention paid to providing them with health care.
Treatment of pneumonia should be based on evidence-based information including antimicrobial sensitivity tests and antimicrobial resistance regional data.
Parents have the right to be properly informed about prevention, protection, and symptoms of childhood pneumonia as they are primarily responsible for their children’s health.
Pharmacists in Moldova are obliged to promote rational and safe use of medicines, including antibiotics.
Journalists should be educated on public health issues to facilitate their dissemination of accurate and unbiased information about the scientifically-proven measures for the prevention and treatment of pneumonia.

On 21 November 2011, in response to ‘The Resolution on Rational use of Medicine WHA 60′, the Government of the Republic of Moldova established the National Multidisciplinary Committee, including civil society and professional bodies, to monitor and promote the rational use of medicines. Dr.Natalia Cebotarenco was appointed Chair. 

ADVOCACY CAMPAIGN ON WORLD PNEUMONIA DAY IN MOLDOVA

The Campaign was conducted jointly by the CoRSUM – Coalition for Rational and Safe Use of Medicines and Association of Pharmacists of Moldova.

November, 12, 2011

• Booklet “Drama “Pneumonia”-who are key actors?” in Romanian and Russian languages ;; signed Statement to politicians; info dissemination via web-page in Russian.
• National Conference for 200 participants.
• Teleconference with Kenya, Russia, Armenia, Kazakhstan, Ukraine was conducted during the work of the National Conference.  
• Representatives of Government of Republic of Moldova and parliamentarians of Parliament of Republic of Moldova participated in the National Conference.
• Student team actively collected signatures for the joint “Call to Action -Fight Pneumonia. Safe a Child in Moldova” and presented to the Government and Parliament of Republic of Moldova.
• Participants of the National Conference received the key messages about pneumococcal vaccination and about the modern aspects of the treatment of pneumonia in children till 5 years old.
• Key stories about pneumonia in children in Moldova were presented by the participants of the National Conference: parents, pediatricians and young people suffered with pneumonia in the childhood.
• Symbols of World Pneumonia Day:  blue balloons, roses, T-shirts, badges, scarfs, banner and even blue folders and pencils called to action – to increase awareness among participants of the National Conference about Biggest Keeler of children till 5 years old – Pneumonia.  
• The special Issue of MEDEX – independent drug bulletin of CoRSUM was issued and highlighted the Key messages of World Pneumonia Day, the article about the anti-pneumococcal vaccination in children, and advocacy materials about the situation in pneumonia in children in Moldova.
• Participants of the National Conference developed concrete recommendations aimed to the National plan to fight pneumonia in Moldova.
• Materials about World Pneumonia Day in Moldova were presented the next week at the ICIUM III – The Third International Conference for Improving Use of Medicines, November 14-18, 2011.  

Announce:  CoRSUM conducts a Competition among children and youth on the best pictures about tuberculosis and pneumonia during September, 2011.

address corsumnews@gmail.com

Conference Resolution: Realization of Millennium Development Goals in the public health system and promotion of rational pharmaceutical service in Moldova

The conference was conducted jointly by CoRSUM and the Association of Pharmacists
of Moldova  in collaboration with WCC, EPN, Scientific Centre of Drug and Medical Technology Expertise of Armenia, Lviv State Medical University  and the Public Health School of Kazakhstan on December, 23, 2010. Resolution_23_Dec_Millenium_2010_en

the artickle is issued in the  CoNTACT, N 191 – March_May 2011, WCC/EPN

authors: Natalia Cebotarenco, MD, is the Executive Director of Coalition for Rational and Safe Use of Medicines (CoRSUM) Moldova. Anahit Ayvazyan, MD, PhD, works at the Department of rational use of drugs and professional information, SCDMTE, Armenia. Contact_191_CoRSUM

May, 17, 2011

2011 APUA CHAPTER SURVEY REPORT

In August 2010, APUA sent out invitations to participate in the APUA Chapter Survey to each chapter leader. The objective of this survey is to assess the antibiotic resistance issue worldwide and highlight the APUA chapter network’s activities to improve antimicrobial access and effectiveness. The survey was designed by APUA staff and conducted through SurveyMonkey™. It elicited responses from 33 chapters, representing every region of the world. Survey findings were analyzed and compiled into the 2011 APUA Chapter Survey Report. The information gathered gives a global view of the nature of antibiotic resistance.

APUA -Alliance for Prudent Use of Antibiotics - survey results have been sent to WHO and were also featured in a poster at the joint 21st ECCMID/27th ICC meeting. Results indicate that 78.8% of respondents believe the most urgent problem contributing to antibiotic resistance is lack of surveillance of antibiotic use and resistance. 69.7% reported that lack of medical education and training on appropriate use is a prime contributor.

APUA Moldova aims to:

• Study current policies and practices set up to control antimicrobial resistance in Moldova.

• Facilitate data‐exchanging among countries and regions for tracking antimicrobial resistance.

• Assist with producing a consensus set of recommendations on how to control antimicrobial resistance at the community and country levels.

• Educate health care workers and the public about antimicrobial resistance.