Moldova to join Global Platform for Access to Childhood Cancer Medicines

Moldova will join the Global Platform for Access to Childhood Cancer Medicines. An agreement to this effect today was signed by Minister of Health Ala Nemerenco and Natasha Azzopardi Muscat, Director of National Health Policies and Systems at the World Health Organization (WHO) Regional Office for Europe.

The platform is created by the World Health Organization (WHO) and St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, and aims to enhance access to essential medicines for pediatric cancer treatment in low- and middle-income countries.

By 2030, the initiative aims to support about 120,000 children from 50 countries, with the goal of increasing the global survival rate to 60 per cent.

According to the Health Ministry, Moldova has been selected among the first six countries to join the platform in 2025, following progress made under the Global Initiative for Childhood Cancer Control, launched in 2018.

Within the platform, St. Jude Hospital will invest 200 million dollars over the next six years, alongside WHO, United nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and the PAHO Strategic Fund. The first batch of free of charge medicines for children in Moldova is expected in the fourth quarter of 2025.

Recently, a joint WHO-St. Jude-UNICEF mission assessed the capacity of Moldova's medical system to manage pediatric oncology treatments. The visit included an analysis of drug stocks, hospital infrastructure and the planning of therapeutic needs, with priorities identified for improving storage and delivery conditions for treatments.

Data by the Health Ministry shows that about 100 new pediatric cancer cases are diagnosed in Moldova each year.