Representatives of international organizations responsible for working out policies on healthcare at global level and national decision makers said the health financing system of Moldova is a successful model in the East European area. Related assessments were made in an international conference held to mark 10 years of the foundation of the National Health Insurance Company (CNAM), Info-Prim Neo reports. “Moldova is among the leading countries in the CIS as regards the implementation of medical financing reforms and can be given as example to other countries that did not yet manage to carry out such reforms. Even if the Moldovan medicine has to deal with many challenges yet and some of the services should be improved, the medical financing system can be considered a success,” said Hans Kluge, Director of the Division of Health Systems and Public Health of the World Health Organization Regional Office for Europe. Paolo Belli, coordinator of the Human Development Sector of the World Bank Office in Moldova, said the Moldovans took many steps forward in the health sector, unlike other post-Soviet countries, but have yet a lot of work to do to improve the health financing reform. “Moldova should improve the quality of the medical services and increase the revenues. The under-the-table payments lead to the stagnation of reforms,” he stated. Jarno Habicht, head of the WHO Coordination Office in Moldova, said that he has been in Moldova for a year and saw the improvements in the national medical institutions, but there are also shortcomings in the system. “It is important that the financing system be promoted so as more poor people who cannot afford to buy medical insurance be able to purchase it and have access to medical services of a high quality,” he said. Attending the event, Minister of Health Andrei Usatyi stressed the importance of increasing the medical insurance contribution. According to the official, it should be raised from 7% to 11%, shared equally by the employer and employee, during the next four years so that the system functions normally. The minister also said that it will be possible to improve the quality of the medical services if the contribution is increased. The main package will include a number of services insured with money from the budget. “We would be able to perform surgeries that are very expensive and to develop the transplantation of organs and tissues,” said Andrei Usatyi. Prime Minister Vlad Filat approved of the effort made to develop the health financing system and handed over Government diplomas to specialists of the CNAM who promoted the values of the mandatory medical insurance system since the foundation of the company. The jubilee conference “The Health Financing System of Moldova” was organized in cooperation with the WHO and was held in connection with the celebration of ten years of the establishment of CNAM and almost 8 years of the implementation of the mandatory medical insurance system. The conference involved representatives of medical insurance companies from a number of countries and international organizations.