Moldovan Minister of Health to visit ECU
Dr. Ion Ababii, minister of health in the eastern European country Moldova, will visit East Carolina University on Wednesday, Jan. 16, as part of a multi-city visit in North Carolina.
Ababii is scheduled to observe a telemedicine and electronic medical record demonstration in the Laupus Library teleconference room, tour Brody School of Medicine’s medical simulation and patient safety laboratory, receive an overview of the standardized patient program, and meet library staff working on the Moldovan book project.
Laupus and other libraries across the state have been providing current medical literature and electronic journals to Moldova, said Donna Flake, a Greenville native and director of the Coastal Area Health Education Center Library in Wilmington, one of the participating libraries. Others include the medical libraries at ECU, Duke University, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and Wake Forest University and North Carolina Area Health Education Center libraries in Asheville, Boone, Charlotte, Fayetteville, Greensboro, Hickory, Raleigh, Rocky Mount, Salisbury and Wilmington.
The libraries periodically cull their collection of duplicate clinical books and journals. The materials are temporarily housed at ECU and shipped bi-annually in large batches to Moldova. Last year, more than 7,000 books were received, Flake said. Moldova, one of the poorest nations in Europe, sits northeast of Romania and once was part of the Soviet Union.
Laupus Library is honored to host the visit, said Dr. Dorothy Spencer, Laupus Library director and associate vice chancellor for communication and information resources. “We have assembled a program of demonstrations and tours that we trust will help Dr. Ababii better understand key programs and services available at the Brody School of Medicine and the Division of Health Sciences at ECU,” she said.
Ababii is expected to view an exhibit on pioneering African-American physicians, tour the library’s history collection and enjoy lunch with invited guests including some who have previously traveled to Moldova. He will be presented a Laupus bronze medallion and an autographed pictorial history of the university, “No Time for Ivy: East Carolina University, 1907-2007” by Henry Ferrell.
As part of the weeklong visit, Ababii is expected to attend a health care summit at the School of Public Health at UNC-Chapel Hill and meetings at North Carolina State University and UNC-Greensboro. The summit will include discussion on overall health care needs in Moldova and how North Carolina’s universities, faculty and students can participate.
North Carolina and Moldova forged a partnership several years ago through an American “Partnerships for Peace” initiative with former Soviet states. Since then, government, churches, civic organizations, nonprofit agencies, colleges and universities, doctors, nurses, engineers, private firms and others have provided assistance in Moldova.