Albania has announced a new series of reforms, along with neighboring Kosovo, to improve their healthcare system to make it more efficient and better operated. In 2010, the government initiated two modules to improve their medical services. At Mother Theresa University Hospital Center, Albania created a database that kept track of the movement of patients. The second module regulates medicines and medical materials. Currently, Albania is working on a massive database to computerize patients' medical records. In the future, the Albanian government hopes to improve healthcare workers' wages. These reforms are big news for the state as they continue to improve the quality of life in the Balkan country.
http://www.setimes.com/cocoon/setimes/xhtml/en_GB/features/setimes/features/2013/01/24/feature-02
Health care is free in Albania, however, it seems they have historically had issues with bribing doctors typically to "facilitate bureaucratic procedures."
ReplyDeleteThe results of the Albanian Institute of Statistics questionnaire on corruption from November 2011 shows that the healthcare sector is the most corrupt in the country.
"We buy medicines with our money, although I have been paying social insurance my entire life." I think this is definitely something we need to look more into and look at how it seems to affect the people in the country and the corruption levels of their healthcare system.
http://setimes.com/cocoon/setimes/xhtml/en_GB/features/setimes/features/2012/01/24/feature-03
Do you think corruption is an issue then in Albania, especially regarding the medical division? I also think this is a pretty important topic especially because health-care and welfare programs are hot topics today and in such a varying economic climate.
Deletehttp://www.balkaninsight.com/en/article/albania-judges-admit-corruption-and-bribes
On a slightly separate note, I personally know someone who taught in an Albanian school for at least a year. While it was not particularly dangerous for anyone to go visit him, even in his school, there was a large amount of corruption and bribing just within the school (ex- students bribing teachers on the regular basis).
ReplyDeleteCorruption is a problem that has seeped into many, if not all, parts of Albanian society.