"I am ill now because I was discriminated against in my childhood"
By Tatiana Tibuleac Chisinau, 1 February 2008 - Anatol Stamati found out about mumps (parotitis) the moment he was hospitalized, which, in fact, happened late. During the first several days the boy was trying to treat himself as of a common cold. At 17, he thought mumps was the last disease he would contract. “I knew this was a disease that attacked children, moreover, my mother told me I had been vaccinated. But I didn’t know I needed the second vaccine, which the State didn’t have money for… Frankly speaking, I feel betrayed in a way. How could it happen that some children were vaccinated and some weren’t? This means I am ill now because I have been discriminated, doesn’t it?” Many other children, who are lying in hospital beds with swollen throats and faces, although they are not children any more, have adopted an attitude similar to the one of Anatol. They all belong to the unlucky generation that has not received the second vaccine against the mumps. While in the girls’ section spirits have calmed down, the situation is totally different with boys. The teenagers who have been told that there is a chance they could remain sterile for life are trying to understand who is to blame for the situation they are now in. “Why us?” is the most frequent question the boys ask doctors, parents, journalists and each other. Not vaccinated “Boys are the most affected. They’ve already filled almost half of the hospital places”, Maria Neagu, director of Chisinau Clinical Hospital of Contagious Diseases, says. “There are cases when parents bring all of their children to the hospital.” The parotitis treatment takes up to 2-3 weeks, depending on the seriousness of the case, which is enough for patients to become friends, and exchange their tragic stories. Tragedies bring people together While we are discussing with the nurses, the news begin on the radio. The news about parotitis is still in the top. The Ministry of Health assaulted daily by journalists tries to find a solution. But they do not have the money to buy the vaccine, as they did not have it 10 years ago. Nailed down, the Minister of Health says the budget allocated for immunization this year is two times lower than the necessary for vaccination against the mumps. Thirteen million lei are needed, which is an unreal amount for the Republic of Moldova. However, if the vaccination of 600,000 children is not performed in time, the current situation shall keep recurring. “Poverty!” a nurse says at the end of the radio news. With a deep sigh she turns down the volume and sets to make a round on her patients one more time. Meanwhile, several workers are trying to take some extra beds to the upper floors. “We hope for better, but get ready for worse.” Saying this, the woman at the door gives us to understand that it is time for us to leave, because there is a lot to do until the end of the day....
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