Background

As the poorest country in Europe, Moldova struggles to meet the basic needs of its people in safety, sanitation, and health care; Moldovan government expenditure per capita on health in 2002 was a mere 16 US$.[1] Many medical professionals--unaware of the latest information on breast cancer, HIV/AIDS, diabetes, heart disease, substance abuse, and nutritional needs--are unequipped to provide preventive advice or even diagnose these conditions. Although specialists exist, because general doctors, nurses and medical assistants do not have enough access to information, they are unlikely to be able to send their patients to the appropriate specialists.

Providing needed additional health care support are hundreds of non-governmental organizations focused on health and safety. Fifty-or-so organizations, in Chişinău alone--such as Centrul Sănătaţii Femeii “Dalila”, Centrul SIDA, and Centru de Informare privind Drepturile Copilului din Moldova (children’s health and rights)--are run by HCNs to serve their fellow Moldovans. Unfortunately, budget constraints restrict the amount of advertising and publicity achieved by these NGOs, resulting in a population that is surrounded by organizations that could significantly improve their quality of life, but that is unaware of the bounty of resources available.

A symptom of not knowing about the health-support organizations or even the illnesses themselves--in addition to a variety of environmental and economic factors--is the poor condition of the average Moldovan’s health. On the United Nations’ human development index for 2005, Moldova is ranked at 115--below all other European and CIS countries except Tajikistan.[2] Many conditions, however, could easily be prevented or mitigated through education, even as brief as a seminar or as short as a pamphlet. For example, hepatitis A cases, which numbered 7,968 among the Moldovan population in 2003, could be diminished through information on proper hand-washing. The WHO Global Status Report on Alcohol 2004 reports that Moldova’s recorded consumption of alcohol per capita (over the age of 15) is the fifth-highest in the world with 13.88 liters of pure alcohol, and yet it also estimates that another 12 liters per capita goes unrecorded.[3] Yet few Moldovans--both medical practitioners and the general population--are aware of the alcohol-dependency support services available. Likewise, preventive medicine handouts, blood pressure and breast-cancer screenings, as well as information about support organizations, will contribute to healthier Moldovans--but only if these services are known about and utilized.

The partner for this project is the A.F IRFF ONLUS.

Organization Purpose:

IRFF ONLUS Moldova is a nongovernmental and a public, non-profit organization with material and educational aid goal.

Implemented IRFF ONLUS projects including donors’ names:

2003, 2005 Peace festivals at National Radio, International FWP

From 2001 Long Distance Adoption, IRFF ONLUS Adoziony a distance Italy

From 2004 Youth Change the world, Jun Foundation, IRFF International, Local sponsors

2002 Medical Project, IRFF Europe

2003 “Turning point of Global Governance: New approach to create peace in transition society” IIF for World Peace

2003-2007 HIV/AIDS prevention small projects: “IRFF Europe

2003:
-Round table on topic: Strategies and perspectives of HIV/AIDS prevention in Moldova. May 15;
-Three seminars on topic: “Zero HIV/AIDS transmition lifestyle”. First seminar was organized in Ovidius library others in Marinici and Frumusica villages;
-Press conference on “Love conquer AIDS” project, 22 October;
-International conference “World without AIDS”, 19 November;
-On 30 December for the World HIV/AIDS prevention day we organized online conference together with national Moldova Radio;
-On 1st December we organized a medical-cultural event dedicate for the World HIV/AIDS prevention in Chisinau Gymnasium-orphanage N.2;
2004:

a) The making of a documentary movie with the title "They + Us=ALL", having the message of prevention of HIV/AIDS, in collaboration with the Association anti-AIDS from Moldavia "Amas".

b) The Festival of Volunteers, organized by the Philanthropic Association IRFF-ONLUS and by the organization Service for Peace, with the occasion of International day of Volunteers. At this action participate around 210 persons.

2005

3. The project „Youth change the world”, was an ample action, organized in the summer and in autumn of 2005, by the partners associations IRFF-ONLUS, Service for Peace organization, The Association for Education from Republic of Moldavia and Educators for Peace and Mutual Understanding organization.

In the City Hall Center Sector took place the festival of offering the prizes for the work YCW in the national campaign “ABC Model- way of life with no HIV/AIDS transmission”. The national campaign of HIV/AIDS prevention took place in over 30 localities of Republic of Moldavia.

Human resources: Number of members: 5 people, Number of constant workers: 11 people, Number of volunteers: 30.

Technical resources: 1pc, 1laptop, 2 mobile phones, a printer.

Project Description

Building on the learnings and success of last year, Health Expo 2007, organized by A.F IRFF ONLUS and the Peace Corps GAD-subcommittee, we will bring together health organizations, the Ministry of Health, medical practitioners, medical students, and peer education teams for a two-day health conference over a weekend (to ensure that medical students will be available to attend the second-day activities).

Advertising for Health Expo 2007 will be targeted at the three groups. First, an ad will run in the national medical journal to alert doctors to the upcoming Health Expo. Next, based on responses to the ad and recommendations from PCVs, A.F IRFF ONLUS, and Peace Corps, 400 doctors from all corners of Moldova and both towns and villages will be invited. This number is obviously higher than the 150 possible attendees but last year’s experience showed us that it is necessary to invite a much higher number to guarantee the 150. Those who accept will also receive follow-up phone calls from members of the Health Expo planning team one to two days before the event to remind and encourage them to come (as shown necessary by the 25% of medical professionals last year who gave an RSVP but did not attend). Medical students will be targeted through PCV presentations at the medical universities, posters, flyers, as well as through the on-line bulletin and Health Expo web site. Peer education teams will be selected by PCVs and A.F IRFF ONLUS; they will receive posters flyers and pep-talks from PCVs as well as through the on-line bulletin and Health Expo web site. Finally, two days before the event, a banner will be hung from the Doina building advertising it as the Expo’s location. Following all of this publicity, the event will host approximately 300 attendees over the course of two days.

Day 1: 150 medical practitioners--doctors, nurses and medical assistants from all over Moldova--will come to the Doina Conference Center in Chişinău for the first day of the conference. The medical practitioners will break into three geographically based groups (i.e. north, south, central, etc.), and will attend each of the three sessions in those groups. These sessions will deal with various health themes, partly selected on the basis of last year’s exit evaluations.

- Working with and utilizing health NGOs, part I (panel discussion)

- HIV/AIDS

- Substance abuse (alcoholism, drug addiction, etc.)

Following up with NGOs who participated in last year’s Health Expo, we will have the medical practitioners participate in a practical application session in which they utilize the skills learned during the “Working with and utilizing health NGOs” session. Therefore, on the first day’s session of “Working with and utilizing health NGOs,” the medical practitioners will be given assignments in groups of four to develop plans of action for utilizing NGOs and dispersing the information gained from the Health Expo in their community. The medical practitioners will present these plans to the others in their geographical working-group; this will take place during one of the sessions on day two.

Day 2: The medical practitioners will begin their second day with three additional sessions:

- Working with and utilizing health NGOs, part II (group presentations)

- Healthy lifestyle (proper nutrition, and prevention of heart disease, diabetes, tuberculosis)

- Breast cancer

By 11 a.m., medical students and members of peer education teams from all over Moldova will join the medical practitioners for the rest of the day. During this part of the conference, 40 health and safety NGOs will staff tables located throughout the second-floor corridors of the Doina Conference center. Each organization will bring two representatives and materials; the public will have the opportunity to either engage the organization’s representatives in conversation or just take information for later reference. The public’s familiarization with the NGOs present in the large-room setting is one of the main objectives of the project. Secondarily, the information absorbed as the public browses from table to table fulfills the second objective of public health education.

Additionally, a health practitioner will be screening blood pressure and weight. This doctor or nurse will be a Romanian and Russian speaker and will give a few words of advice after dispensing the pertinent numbers. Although the Health Expo participants should know how to do these tests themselves, offering these services will reinforce the importance of such simple testing.

Simultaneously, in four separate conference rooms, NGOs will hold hour-long sessions on the work of their organization and the health or safety issue they are resolving. Speakers, in a total of 16 seminars, will cover topics such as from tuberculosis, breast cancer, dental care, HIV education, men’s reproductive health, substance abuse, domestic violence, and psychological health.

Prospective NGO Attendees include:

For Women

· Centrul Sănătaţii Femeii “Dalila” – women’s reproductive health

· Societatea de Planificare a Familei din Moldova - women’s reproductive health

· Association of Social Protection of Women from Moldova “Centrul pentru Drepturile Oamenilor”

· Consiliul Naţional al Femeilor

· Centrul PROGenEVA

· Centrul de Prevenire a Traficului de Femei “La Strada”

For Adolescents

· Centrul “Juventa”

· Centrul pentru adolescenţi “Armonia” - counseling

· Consiliul Naţional al Tineretului din Moldova (CNTM)

· Progres prin Alternativa – teenage pregnancy

For Children

· Asociaţia “Tinerii pentru Dreptul la Viaţa” – children’s health and rights

· Speranţa – day care center for disabled children

· Centrul de reabilitare a copiilor “Ascode”

For Families

· Armata Salvarii – Pre-natal care and nutrition

· Save the Children “Organizaţia Salvaţi Copii” –child abuse prevention

· ARIS DOWN – for families with children affected by Down’s Syndrome

· Asociaţia Familiilor cu Copii cu Hipoacuzie – for families with children affected by disabilities

· Centrul de Plasament temporar - “Small Group Homes”

General Health

· Credinţa – AIDS information

· Hippocrates Centrul Medico Social – chronic disease support

· Centrul de criza pentru asistenţa şi protecţie a victimelor violenţei în familie – family violence

· Red Cross Society of Moldova “Crucea Rosu” – emergency aid

· Alcoholics Anonymous

Goals and Objectives: Health Expo 2007

The goal of the project is to publicize local health-promoting NGOs and disseminate health-related information to the public by educating health care providers, medical students, and peer educators through seminars and presentations during a two-day conference featuring these NGOs, medical experts, and the Ministry of Health. The Health Expo will improve public health by educating community leaders who are in a position to have an impact on the most people. This goal is supported by four objectives:

Objective 1: Increase the awareness and utilization of health-related non-governmental organizations and the services they provide in Moldova. Specifically, by introducing health providers, medical students and peer educators to active and successful health and safety NGOs, the participating NGOs will achieve publicity and hopefully a higher rate of use. We will provide table space in a Chişinău location for participating organizations, create and distribute programs to Health Expo attendees with the NGOs’ contact info, and provide attendees with a training on working with and utilizing health NGOs.

Objective 2: Educate the following groups on health-related issues through speakers, handouts, and discussions: medical practitioners (doctors, nurses and medical assistants), medical students, and peer education teams (a student with an adult leader). Medical practitioners need more information to recognize and treat many health epidemics facing Moldova today. Medical students are key in that they need to understand which diseases and health issues are rampant in Moldova today, allowing them to be better prepared to treat their causes in the future. Finally, peer education teams are pivotal in the distribution of information in that they have the ability to reach students immediately. Peer education teams are often the first approached for health information by their peers; it should also be noted several studies have demonstrated children are more receptive to receiving health information from their peers than from any other source.

Objective 3: Educate the public about health-related issues by educating those in the health field who are respected and in the greatest position to reach the most people. The 300 attendees of the Health Expo have the potential to reach 27,500 people.

Objective 4: Provide a forum for medical providers, medical students, and peer education teams to develop connections with other members of the medical community. Medical providers will be placed in one of three working-groups according to geography, and this will allow them to meet other medical providers in their area who they can use as a source of information. Medical students will also be given the opportunity to be involved in the medical community, and peer education teams will meet with other peer education teams--allowing the sharing of ideas, techniques, and information.

There are three distinct groups of beneficiaries of the Health Expo. The first beneficiaries will be the participating organizations; they will receive publicity and an enhanced level of name-recognition, which in turn, will result in increased usage of their services and the fulfillment of their missions. The second beneficiaries are the attendees--the medical professionals, medical students, and peer education teams--who will learn more about various health and safety NGOs and specific diseases--their causes, diagnoses, and treatments. The third group of beneficiaries is the public, which will benefit from the knowledge gained by the Health Expo participants when the participants return to their towns and villages.

Budget: Health Expo 2007

The detailed budget, including all expenses not just ones being targeted for grantor funding, is attached in an Excel document.

Budget Justification: Health Expo 2007

The Mold Health Expo is a community-supported activity, as evidenced by the 26% of the budget being furnished by the community through in-kind and cash donations. The grantor is being asked to support the location rental, hotel accommodations, some in-country transportation, 34% of materials, 56% of advertising, 23% of seminar speaker honoraria, and food.

Location Rental

The most financially efficient and accommodating space was found at the Doina Conference Center for a total cost of $2000 USD. For this, we will have three conference rooms and the auditorium for both days, an additional conference room for the second day, and the second floor corridors on the second day. The conference rooms will be used for round-table sessions the first day by the health professionals and will convert into seminar rooms for all attendees the second day. The conference rooms seat 45 individuals comfortably around a ring of tables. The auditorium will be used for the welcome and keynote speeches on the first day and as a welcome site and location for press on the second. All conference rooms come with chairs and tables included in the price.

Hotel Accommodations

As the Health Expo is planned for a Saturday and Sunday, accommodations for 160 health professionals are necessary. The overnight accommodations for the medical providers are spartan but adequate. We have reserved 35 of the Simple Style 2-twin-bed rooms and 30 of the Simple Style 3-twin-bed rooms for the medical professionals. The rooms have in-room toilets but are without showers. There are adequate communal showers on each floor.

In addition to the medical professionals, some NGOs will be traveling significant distances to attend the conference and 20 beds have been set aside for approximately 10 total organizations that will arrive the night before the NGO open house on Sunday.

Transportation

The average salary of a Moldovan doctor is less than $1000USD per month and they can ill-afford additional expenses. As an additional incentive to attend the conference, we will reimburse the doctors their travel expenses based on average travel costs using public transportation for the four regions of Moldova. Maximum reimbursement would be $10 for a 7-hour trip.

The other part of transportation will be for NGOs based far from Chişinău. The cost of transportation alone would be a prohibitive factor for most non-Chişinău organizations to participate and this small concession to their budgetary needs, we feel, is valid.

Materials

Nearly half of the materials, as defined as photocopies etc., will be paid by the participating organizations. The remaining $1200 of the materials budget for which we are asking grantor support would pay for photocopying the programs, organization info packets, and evaluation forms; printing costs associated with invitations and Health Expo pens; postage, folder, notepad, bag purchase, and a souvenir photograph of the health provider participants from the first day.

With printed invitations, the invited participants of the Expo will feel selected and special, thereby making their attendance feel necessary. Although conferences are rare in Moldova, golden opportunities for professional enrichment are squandered because people did not feel specifically chosen to attend.

Advertising

The key to achieving the goals and objectives of the Health Expo is through adequate and thorough advertising of the event. To advertise to the medical professionals, invitations will be sent to specific individuals, maximizing the advertising dollar spent to target half of the Expo’s attendees. Those costs are included in the materials budget. Medical professionals will additionally be targeted through the placement of two ads in the National Medical Journal.

Medical students and peer educators will be invited by specific individuals of influence: PCVs, medical school professors, etc. In addition, posters and flyers will be distributed to medical universities and peer education sites using the same individuals of influence. As these students are more than likely users of the Internet, they will also be exposed to the strategic placement of a community contributed online advertisement as well as the community contributed Health Expo website.

The total amount for advertising for which we are asking from outside support is $1000

Food

Possibly more a part of business meetings in Moldova than in America is the notion of a meeting coffee break. In this vein, although there are as many cost-saving measures as possible, we are asking for $3000 for three coffee breaks, as well as dinner the first night and continental breakfast the second morning for the medical professionals and NGO representatives who must arrive the first day, due to distance.

Dinner the first day and breakfast the second for the medical professionals and NGO representatives arriving early are necessary because the Doina Conference Center, although within the Rîşcani neighborhood of the capital, Chişinău, is not within walking distance of any restaurants for them to purchase their own meals. As most will be arriving using public transportation, they will not have access to cars to drive into the center of the city.

Total amount request 8200 USD

Monitoring and Evaluation Plan: Health Expo 2007

DURING THE EVENT

· Monitor attendance – upon check-in, doctors registering for the event will be cross-checked against the list of registered doctors

· Monitor breakdown of participants by gender and age – a volunteer will be stationed at each entry point (2) with a chart and a pen to identify each person as man, woman, girl, or boy.

· Monitor use of screening – the medical practitioner evaluating weight and blood pressure would also be equipped with a chart and a pen to identify each person as man, woman, girl, or boy. Additionally, if privacy would not be violated, a blind record of blood pressure and weight will be recorded.

· Seminar attendance – seminar facilitators will note attendance with a chart and a pen to identify each person as man, woman, girl, or boy.

FOLLOWING THE EVENT

· Usefulness of Information– upon exiting, all participants will be asked to fill out survey indicating an increase in knowledge of local organizations and an increased knowledge about at least one health issue pertaining to them. Anticipating 2/3 positive response

· NGO Evaluations – on the number of new NGO contacts they made and on what improvements could be made for the following year.

· 3-Month Evaluation for medical professionals – to assess the impact on usage of their NGOs after the publicity garnered by the Health Expo as well as the usage of new info from the Health Expo, doctors will either be interviewed personally by PCVs in their region or contacted via a letter.

The entire Health Expo 2007 Committee and A.F IRFF ONLUS will review all post-event evaluations two weeks after the event. At that evaluative meeting, a full post-mortem on the event and next year’s strategic plan will be discussed.