What has changed since your society became an ECCO Country Member?
Being a part of ECCO is very important for a small country like Moldova. It has helped us to improve diagnostic and treatment methods, to increase the level of knowledge in IBD and to improve the training of young doctors. ECCO has contributed to our involvement in international research and facilitated cooperation with other IBD groups.

What are the benefits to you of being an ECCO Country Member?
Being an ECCO Country Member means being able to participate in the creation of an international authoritative organisation – a leader in the development of new medical strategies and technologies in IBD. It means having the possibility to participate in international projects and in the exchange of experiences.

Is your society making use of the ECCO Guidelines?
Yes, the recommendations of the ECCO Guidelines formed the basis for the national protocols and medical standards for the diagnosis and treatment of IBD in children and adults.

Have you developed links with other countries through your ECCO Country Membership? 

• Have you developed research projects with other countries through your ECCO Country Membership? 
  Yes, we have research projects with Romania and Russia and are a member of the Epi-IBD group, involving epidemiological collaboration among centres across Europe.
• Have you developed educational activities with other countries through your ECCO Country Membership?
  Yes, we regularly and actively participate in educational activities (workshops, school, training) in Romania, Ukraine and Russia.
• Has your country been involved in a fellow exchange through ECCO?
  Yes.

What are your main areas of research interest?
Epidemiology, risk factors, possibility of influencing the pattern of disease

Does your centre or country have a common IBD database or bio bank?
We don’t have a national database, just some epidemiological data: The Statistical Department of the Ministry of Health registers all new cases of IBD, gender and age at diagnosis. We also participate in the creation of the Romanian National Registry of IBD (IBDPROSPECT).

What are your most prestigious/interesting past and ongoing projects?
IBDPROSPECT and ECCO-EpiCom study (2010 and 2011 new inception cohorts)

Which ECCO Projects/Activities is the group in? 
We have been involved in the ECCO IBD Nurse Education lectures.

What are your aims for the future? 

• Development of educational programmes in IBD for gastroenterologists, physicians etc.
• Participation of young members in educational programmes organised by ECCO
• ECCO Educational Workshop in Moldova
• To join UR-CARE and new multicentre studies of IBD (Epi-IBD 2018 new inception cohort)

What do you use ECCO for? Network? Congress? How do you use the things/services that ECCO has to offer?
We use the ECCO Network, Congress and Workshops and the JCC etc. as a basic platform for national management and educational programmes.

ECCO National Representatives from Moldova © Moldovan Association of Gastroenterology and Hepatology