The Ministry of Health has launched a campaign to inform the population about the healthcare development priorities. Video clips about access to compensated drugs, services of the public health system and development of the regional network of hospitals will be broadcast on a number of TV channels and radio stations during a month, IPN reports.

Minister of Health Ruxanda Glavan told a news conference that the people often go directly to specialist doctors, without consulting the family doctor first. In the case of persons from villages, these cover long distances to get to specialists in Chisinau or district centers, sometimes absolutely unreasonably as the treatment can be prescribed on the spot, by the family doctor.

“You should go to the family doctor at least once a year or whenever you have a health problem. This component of the health system will work better when there is a durable relationship between the doctor and patient, based on confidence,” said the minister.

Ruxanda Glavan also said that the authorities want the population to have access to health services of a high quality. For this to be possible, the actions of the Ministry of Health should be well-known. “In any system, if we want this to work, there should be rules and procedures and we want to make sure that these rules are known by the entire population so that they can follow them and can access health services,” she stated.

A priority announced by the Ministry of Health is to create nine regional hospitals that would provide high-quality services and will be close to the people. “In the future, we want all the patients, regardless of the place of residence, to be able to go to a modem hospital closer to their home, where they will enjoy medical services of a high quality and on time and where doctors will benefit from appropriate equipment for examination and surgery,” added the minister.