Free Dental Care for Disabled Children from Moldova

CHISINAU, September 13, 2012 — About 30 deaf children from Chisinau are provided free dental care within a Moldovan-American humanitarian project carried out September 11-15 at the Central Military Hospital (CMH).

The beneficiaries of the project are the children of Straseni Orphanage, Boarding School for Disabled Children from Ialoveni, as well as from Special School No.12 for Deaf Children from Chisinau.

The US Ambassador to the Republic of Moldova, William Moser, stated this is the US doctors’ last visit to Moldova as part of the humanitarian project designed for children with special needs from the country. “We decided to help children from underprivileged families, for they need our support most. We have a special long-term cooperation relationship with School No.12 for Deaf Children. All the projects of humanitarian assistance we have implemented here brought positive results”, the US Ambassador stated.

According to Col. Dr. Glenn Garland, North Carolina National Guard, USA, investigations performed here proved that some children have very serious problems with their teeth, because unfortunately, they cannot afford a visit to the dentist because of lack of money. “I made up my mind to participate in this project because this is good opportunity to help children improve their dental health and give them good advice about how to take care of their teeth, in order for them to be sound”, Garland said.

Maj. Andrei Grumeza, Chief of maxilo-facial and dentist’s department of the Central Military Hospital (CMH), stated that throughout the project implementation process, the US experts were provided all the required conditions for a comfortable environment while treating children. “Usually, the CMH’s administration puts a separate dentist’s office and all the necessary technical equipment at the American doctors’ disposal. The medicines are provided through the US European Command’s Humanitarian Civic Assistance program (HCA)”, Grumeza specified.

According to the quoted source, children are quite satisfied with the American doctors’ services. At the end of the treatment, each child gets a tooth paste, a tooth brush and a small note-book, because experts say this fact encourages children to take care of their dental hygiene.

The Bilateral Affairs Office of the US Embassy in Chisinau shows that, about 150 disabled children from Chisinau, Ialoveni and Straseni will be treated for free at the last stage of the Moldovan-American humanitarian project.

The free dental care services are provided as part of the Partnership for Peace Program between North Carolina and Republic of Moldova, as well as the Humanitarian Assistance Program of the US European Command.

The project is funded by the US European Command’s Humanitarian Civic Assistance program (HCA), in partnering with the Defense Cooperation Bureau and the Bilateral Affairs Office of the US Embassy in Chisinau.