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Dalia Grybauskaite at the Vilnius Child Development Centre. Photo: lrp.lt

Due to the ministry's negligence, many children in Lithuania find the treatment vital to them hardly accessible, as they have to wait for it for 6 months and more. Both parents and NGOs have approached the president over the issue.

Vilnius Child Development treats up to 2,000 children every year, but the actual demand is much higher. In late 2013, the roof of the centre's building fell in, and since then the main block of the building has been closed off. Children and the centre's staff have been forced to squeeze up in the remaining part of the building under horrible conditions, while the centre's budget in the recent years shrank by more than EUR 0.5 million.

"The state of the Child Development Centre reflects the Health Ministry's attitude to the children and teenagers development issues. The ministry cannot find time to take care of the most vulnerable children. For more than a year now they have been getting only a part of the necessary treatment. If these children finally receive help on time we will be able to prevent the majority of tragedies and losses of children," the president said.