"OLVIA-PRESS"

IT’S INHUMAN TO ABUSE COMPASSION.

Perhaps, no one will object that the problem of tuberculosis nowadays became one of the most topical, and firmly occupied one of the leading places by mortality level among infectious diseases. I do not have the goal to give explicit statistic data regarding this issue.

I would like to give several facts, which in my opinion are enough convincing.

According to data of the World Healthcare Organization, for recent 100 years, the tuberculosis has killed as many as 200 million people. Today up to 2 billion people (the third part of the Earth population) are ill with the tuberculosis. Moreover, every second one man gets ill with this disease.

Our town is not exclusion. The number of tuberculosis diseases has frown for 1.4 times in comparison with 2000.

Undoubtedly, this problem could not help disturbing the authorities of our town. Today, it's hard to comprehend, how it has happened, and by whose decision, in one of densely inhabited districts of Bendery town, contrary to all sanitary and hygienic norms, an institution was founded, even being a closed one, having a tuberculosis profile. I will say even more, if we believe the piece of information of the press agency "INFOTAG", in penitentiary institutions of Moldova over 11 thousand prisoners are held, over one thousand of them are ill with tuberculosis. It means that over half of them are in Bendery tuberculosis jail, because the list of its prisoners, being ill with the tuberculosis, includes 523 people, among whom about 200 have the open form.

I will say this is not the problem of today. For several years, the public and the population of Bendery has been concerned about the fact in the territory of town, in fact, in its central part, two penitentiary institutions are placed.

And, it may be quite inhuman with respect to 130 thousand citizens of Bendery that the jail's hospital functions in lees of the living area with violation of disinfections regime, without respect of sanitary protected area.

I am sure that no one would desire such a 'harmless' proximity; even 'humanist' authors of the article "The Hostages Of Koch", published in the newspaper "Nezavisimaya Moldova" (The Independent Moldova) dated September 13^th 2002. It is clear that adoption of certain principally important decisions is moreover dictated by time, by acuteness of the ripen situation. And, frankly, the situation is quite unfavorable.

Namely basing on that, we put forward the question about withdrawal of the penitentiary institution #29/8 from the town's territory.

By our initiative, since April 2002, this issue has been discussed for several times on working meetings of the State Administration representatives, of the Town Council of People's Deputies of Bendery, of the Ministries of Justice of the Dniester Moldavian Republic and Republic of Moldova. We also supposed to include it into agenda of the Joint Control Commission sitting.

Unfortunately, no expected results followed. The ministry of justice of the Republic of Moldova offered the plan of actions for decision of that problem could not satisfy us, because it did not include constructive measures for exiting the situation.

Appeals of the town's authority and public to the President, Government, and Parliament of the Republic of Moldova were ignored.

Inaction and ignoring of our requests by the Republic of Moldova made us take 'inadequate measures', about which the above-mentioned article says.

In fact, the town appeared to be under threat of being infected with one of the most awful diseases.

And I would like to say to Alina Yanuchenko (author of the article) that I strongly respect Anton Chekhov and would have deeply sympathized with him because of that illness. Humanly, I understand the complexity of situation of prisoners ill with the tuberculosis, but it does not give us the right to hold the 130-thousand population of the town as 'hostages of Koch'. Tenders and abuse of facts, when the question of people's health is decided, are quite untimely.

And I would like to give advice to those who see themselves in pose of altruists that they should learn to be first of all objective, because objectivity is one of elements of humanism.

The Head of state administration of Bendery

A.Posudnevsky