The National Public Health Center during April 17 and June 30 will be conducting a survey to assess the situation of the women, men and children in 12,000 households from the north, south and center of the country that will be divided into 400 clusters. The study will be the fourth of the kind in Moldova, Info-Prim Neo reports. The survey is carried out with the technical and financial support of UNICEF and the contribution of the World Health Organization and the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation. It will cost 6,000 lei and this money will be provided by foreign partners. UNICEF Representative in Moldova Alexandra Yuster told a news conference that a number of things have been done in Moldova to create normal living conditions for the people and more results are yet to be achieved. “I was impressed by how well the team that will carry out this study is prepared. The survey will facilitate the work of the health and other ministries,” she stated. Alexandra Yuster also said that the quality of the obtained information is very important so that the data should be collected and recorded very carefully. “I know states where this study was compromised. The cooperation with the population is also very important as the people should answer operators’ questions without reticence,” she stressed. Valeriu Pantea, deputy head of the National Public Health Center, said that the study will cover a sample of 9,370 women and 3,100 men aged between 15 and 49 and 2,060 children younger than 15. The questionnaire will contain information about the state of the household, education, hygiene, access to health services. All those questioned will be examined and will have the level of hemoglobin measured. Deputy Minister of Health Mihai Magdei, who heads the committee for the supervision of the survey, said the results will offer data comparable with the situation for the last ten years and will help the Government to draft policies and strategies based on evidence in such spheres as health, education and child and family welfare. “The first three surveys of the kind helped us prepare a plan for supplying the entire population with drinking water and showed that the primary medical assistance system was in need of reformation,” he stated, adding that the information in the questionnaire is confidential and other members of the settlement will not know it. The Multiple Indicator Cluster Survey is a global UNICEF initiative implemented once in 3-5 years. During the last few years, it was carried out in about 100 countries. Moldova is taking part in the current round of the study alongside Ukraine, Belarus, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan and other countries. During two days since the launch of the study, there were assessed about 900 households. The final data will become available at the start of next year.