CMC earmarks 1/5 of initially planned sum for healthcare

The Chisinau Municipal Council (CMC) Thursday decided to allocate 12.4 million lei for the municipal healthcare sector, as against 60 million lei planned in the 2009 budget initially. The money will be used to repair the municipal medical institutions, purchase medicines and baby food and transport dead persons, Info-Prim Neo reports. A sum of 5.9 million lei will go to repair Saint Trinity Hospital, children's hospital “Valentin Ignatenco”, the Maternity Hospital No. 2 and the Buiucani Zonal Medical Association. 4.3 million lei will be used to buy drugs for the patients who benefit from free medications, 600,000 lei – to supply dairy products to children younger than one year free of charge, 1.2 million lei – to make dental prostheses for pensioners, while 360,000 lei to carry bodies. The CMC allocated no money for renewing the technical and material bases of the medical and sanitary institutions. The allocation of financial resources to the Chisinau medical and sanitary institutions has been lately very politicized. For a long period, the councilors could not agree on the amount that was to be allotted to these institutions. The initially planed sum was reduced as the collections into the municipal budget are considerably lower.