Ensuring equitable access of refugees to quality health services in the Republic of Moldova (single-phase project)

Moldova is facing its largest refugee crisis ever, with over 118,000 refugees from Ukraine residing in the country as of April 2024. This corresponds to around 5% of Moldova’s population. The majority of refugees are women and children, and an estimated 19% of the refugee population have special needs (a.o. because of disabilities). The large refugee influx, coupled with Moldova's own challenges in the areas of availability and affordability of energy, lack of private investments, as well as disrupted value chains has put a large pressure on the Moldovan public budget. Despite this, Moldova has prioritized the health needs of refugees, introducing temporary protection status in 2023 to grant access to essential (including health) services for refugees.

In 2023, public health facilities in Moldova provided a range of health services to Ukrainian refugees, including emergency care, primary and specialized outpatient care, and (limited) public health screenings. The Ministry of Health and the National Health Insurance Company expanded coverage for specialized secondary care and added new reimbursable medicines as of March 1, 2024. While the state budget covers emergency care, the National Health Insurance Company's funds are insufficient to cover the expenses for the other services for refugees, so that donor support is needed.

In order to provide equitable access to health services for refugees, UN agencies have issued a joint appeal to donors to help finance these services. The proposed project aims at covering a part of the financing gap and also at developing tools for forecasting, designing and costing benefit packages according to the needs of refugees, streamlining reporting processes, and improving coordination. The project is a joint initiative of four UN agencies and is aligned with the Refugee Response Plan 2024 and the priorities of the Government of Moldova.

Some 25’000 refugees from Ukraine benefit from health services in Moldova.

Some 250 health service providers will benefit from the improved reporting and monitoring mechanisms for providing services for refugees.

Outcome 1: Refugees with temporary protection fleeing Ukraine have access to quality health services, including compensated medicines and medical products.

Outcome 2: The National Health Insurance Company reimburses the costs for health services provided for refugees in an evidence-based, equitable and unified manner.

Expected results:  

1.1-1.3: Refugee children, women and men with temporary protection have access to quality pre-hospital, primary, specialized and emergency health care services and compensated medicines.

2.1: IT monitoring and reporting tools for health care services for refugees are developed and available for health care providers.

2.2: Tools to be used by the Ministry of Health and the National Health Insurance Company for forecasting, costing and designing benefit packages are developed.

2.3: A health care awareness raising campaign targeting health care service providers and refugees from Ukraine is carried out.