Albania: "Bad situation in hospitals"
13/05/2013

After monitoring the situation at the Tirana University Hospital Center and other hospitals through the country, the Ombudsman has sent a critical report to the Health Minister, Halim Kosova, in which he states that the public health system does not offer the quality and standards that the citizens need.

“There are problems with infrastructure, with the lack of medicaments, with the specialization of staff, with the way how patients are treated, and a series of other things that are very important. Our health system lacks of standards and quality for a decent service to the citizens”, Totozani declared.

The Ombudsman has received several complaints about the absence of basic medicine in hospitals, especially at the Onkology.

“Patients don’t have the necessary medicaments and the state has halved its investments in this area, while the patients have doubled, which makes this situation urgent. This is unacceptable”, Totozani declared.

The report quotes that the need to supply medicine to hospitals is immediate, because not all patients can buy expensive medicine in private pharmacies.

According to the Ombudsman, their absence makes a violation of the Patients’ Right Card.

A few days ago Totozani was elected by the UN in Geneva as member of two important boards: the European Regional Network and the Board of Directors at the International Committee, which guarantees the cooperation of national institutions with the High UN Commissioner for Human Rights.