Physical Health Moldova, Republic of Project #6650

Support 150 Tuberculosis Patients in Moldova

by Speranta Terrei

Project Report | Jun 3, 2021
Lidia's Daily Rounds

By Feodora Rodiucova | President

Lidia Arrives at Natalia's House

Lidia’s daily rounds of Directly Observed Therapy (DOT) to tuberculosis (TB) patients take her from a patient’s house to a patient living on the street to a patient in the hospital. Lidia is a nursing assistant at the TB dispensary in Balti and a treatment supporter, called moderator, for Speranta Terrei. She prepares a separate bag of each patient’s drug regimen before setting out every morning to give community-based DOT.

Arriving at Natalia’s house on the outskirts of Balti, Lidia waits for her to put on a mask and come into her front garden. Natalia is in her mid-30s and likely contracted multi-drug resistant TB (MDR-TB) through contact with a relative who had it. Lidia says that Natalia exudes kindness and gratitude and says, “thank you for bringing me TB medicine, I live so far away and worry I will get Covid if I go out”. Lidia reassures her Speranta Terrei plans to continue home treatment support until the end of Natalia’s two-year treatment in October.

Gavriil is homeless and Lidia finds him in the area where he stays on the street. A friend of his was screened for TB and he recognized his own symptoms of fever and blood in sputum and went to the TB dispensary. When the test confirmed drug-susceptible TB, Speranta Terrei arranged for Lidia to give him DOT and for Viorica to assist him to complete applications for social assistance and a residency permit. Without the residency permit required of all Moldovans, he cannot apply for a job or a national insurance card.

After administering Gavriil’s drug regimen, Lidia heads to Liubovi’s apartment to give her her MDR-TB drug regimen. As Lidia leaves, Liubovi’s words to her are, “I wish for Lidia and all Speranta Terrei’s moderators to stay healthy because they are our only hope.”

Lidia ends her daily rounds at the psychiatric ward of Republican Hospital Balti to pass along Ruslan’s (not pictured) drug regimen to the ward nurse, Alena. Ruslan suffers bouts of psychiatric instability and is hospitalized periodically to receive rehabilitation therapy. Because he remains under the TB dispensary’s supervision for TB treatment, the hospital depends on the dispensary to bring TB drugs for him. Lidia reviews Ruslan’s drug regimen with Alena, who will administer the drugs and report back to Lidia on side-effects and Ruslan’s questions.

Thanks to you, our GlobalGiving donors, Speranta Terrei sends 9 capable moderators for daily rounds of DOT and commits to continuing support to TB patients for the duration of TB treatment.

Natalia Thanks Lidia After Taking TB Drugs

Lidia Places TB Drugs in Gavriil's Hand

Liubovi Takes TB Drugs

Lidia Presses Bell at Hospital Psychiatric Ward

Lidia Reviews Ruslan's TB Drugs with Alena

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Feb 8, 2021
Screening the Vulnerable for Tuberculosis

By Feodora Rodiucova | President

Galina & Feodora Explain Procedures

Speranta Terrei is screening vulnerable groups for tuberculosis (TB), an important step in finding and treating undiagnosed TB cases and thus in stopping transmission. We are screening contacts of TB patients and persons who are homeless, low-income, and of Roma ethnicity under a Global Fund project that Center PAS administers. We started in Balti municipality and neighboring Falesti district and will add residents of Riscani and Ungheni districts in north Moldova.

Speranta Terrei’s long-time moderator, Galina, is experienced in outreach and treatment support to the homeless. She visits places where they live in Balti, explains TB symptoms and diagnostics, and encourages them to be screened. She invites three persons at a time to Speranta Terrei’s Centre for Tuberculosis Patients to eat, wash themselves, and select clothes, all with social distancing and COVID-19 precautions in mind. Claudia, Vladimir, and Serghei said they were glad to come to the warm Centre, out of the February cold. Feodora, Speranta Terrei’s president, and Galina posed the questions on the Moldovan TB screening questionnaire. Because their answers met the criteria for x-ray screening, Feodora gave them masks, gloves, and hand sanitizer so they could enter the clinic for x-rays. After they left, Elena, the cleaner at our Centre, sanitized surfaces thoroughly, as she does after visitors.

Alexandr, who keeps Speranta Terrei’s van in tiptop shape, drove Claudia, Vladimir, and Serghei to the clinic to be x-rayed and then dropped them at “Reintoarcere”. Balti municipality’s social assistance department and Speranta Terrei helped to reserve space at this temporary housing centre. A few days later, Speranta Terrei received x-ray results and Galina recorded the results and informed Claudia, Vladimir, and Serghei. Although none of them were diagnosed with TB, their x-rays indicated other respiratory and cardiovascular conditions. If doctors recommend further TB diagnostic tests, Speranta Terrei will assist them with these. For screened persons who are diagnosed with TB in Balti, we assign moderators to give Directly Observed Therapy (DOT) to support the vulnerable through treatment.

Our Galina suffered profound loss last March, when her beloved and only child, Igor, passed away at the age of 35. Igor receiving TB treatment support from a Speranta Terrei moderator had inspired Galina herself to become a moderator, a role in which she is so effective that new patients ask for her by name. Galina says, “I mourn Igor every day and giving solace to needy TB patients consoles me.” Igor was himself a moderator at Speranta Terrei, mother and son together giving treatment support and leading discussions in the patient group, called TB Club.

We thank you, our donors, and we thank GlobalGiving for matching donations on Giving Tuesday, last December. Your donations make our Centre for Tuberculosis Patients functional and a place where the vulnerable are welcome.

Claudia Eats Before X-ray

Galina Writes Screening Form

Feodora Prepares Sanitary Packet

Serghei Leaves Speranta Terrei's Centre

Vladimir at "Reintoarcere"

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Oct 12, 2020
Students Give to Children in Tuberculosis Families

By Feodora Rodiucova | President

Irina & Vlad Mark Names on Donation Bags

Back in January and February, students at Ion Creanga High School in Balti gathered clothes, toys, games, notebooks, and pencils for children in families undergoing treatment for tuberculosis (TB). The high school students planned to distribute these donations on World Tuberculosis Day on 24 March in cooperation with Speranta Terrei’s annual commemoration to raise awareness of TB and TB patients. When the COVID-19 lockdown came into effect in Moldova in mid-March, schools and offices closed and gatherings cancelled. Speranta Terrei and the high school students abandoned plans for World TB Day and waited for an opportune time to give the donations to children.

Ion Creanga High School has an exchange program with a high school in France, Lycée Jean de Lattre de Tassigny, in La Roche sur Yon and had to abandon as well a visit planned for Easter holidays. The teachers and students at Lycée Jean de Lattre de Tassigny had collected funds and at the behest of Ion Creanga High School’s teachers and students, they donated these funds through GlobalGiving to Speranta Terrei. Thanks to their generosity, Speranta Terrei purchased sanitary supplies for children in tuberculosis families and organized an activity in September to distribute these and the clothes and toys.

Many Ion Creanga students volunteered for the activity, but the head master gave permission to only two students, Vlad and Diana, and their French and English teacher, Irina, to limit exposure. Speranta Terrei’s staff and Ion Creanga’s teachers gathered extra donations after they saw the final list of children from Speranta Terrei’s moderators (treatment supporters). Altogether, 23 children, ages 9 months to 18 years, along with their parents came to Speranta Terrei’s Centre for Tuberculosis Patients. Speranta Terrei’s president, Feodora, explained to them how TB is transmitted and how to guard against COVID-19 with proper placement of masks and social distancing. Then, Vlad and Diana handed the bags of donations to each child.

The children and their parents were grateful for the donations and for the diversion from economic worries. TB had interrupted their jobs, then the pandemic brought more hardship with factory, transport, and school closures and heightened fears of infection for those with an underlying respiratory disease, tuberculosis. Moldovan schools opened in September and students attend separated sessions in morning and afternoon or in-person and online on different days of the week.

Children at the activity asked, “when are we going to have a day of fun games as we did last year?” Sadly, Vlad and Diana had to answer that such gatherings were forbidden at this time. The mother of five-year old Serghei called her moderator, Angela, to say how well the shoes and clothes fit him and to express her thanks. Sadly, days later, Serghei’s mother was hospitalized and passed away. We at Speranta Terrei and Ion Creanga High School are in profound sorrow at this terrible turn of events for young Serghei, his mother, and his family.

Speranta Terrei would like to thank our many donors, whose generosity brings relief to TB patients and their families.

Feodora Explains How to Wear Masks & Gloves

Dumitru Listens

Daniel Peeks into His Bag with Father, Andrei

Serghei Retrieves Toy from His Bag

Diana Hands Bag to Vera

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