Report: The Albanian health system suffers from low budgeting

A monitoring report of the "Together for Life" organization highlights the lowest level of budgeting for primary services, the increase in personal expenses of citizens for health issues, as well as the lack of transparency regarding the management of public funds in this sector.

The "Together for Life" organization presented on Wednesday in a round table the findings of the monitoring report of the National Health Strategy for the years 2021-2030.

This report evidences the decrease in the budget for the primary health service, a record increase in out-of-pocket expenses of Albanian citizens for health, a lack of investment for the mental health of the population, as well as a lack of transparency regarding the implementation of concession contracts.

"The budget for health constitutes only 2.78% of the GDP in Albania. No country in the region has such a low budget," said Eglantina Bardhi, executive director of Together for Life.

The National Health Strategy 2021-2030 is based on the achievements of the National Health Strategy 2016-2020 and ensures the continuity of the work done before, addressing the current and future challenges of the health system. Despite these efforts on paper to improve health services in the country, the findings show that in reality this strategy leaves much to be desired.

"From 2020 to 2024, funding for primary care from the state budget has fallen from 11.4% to 9.1% of the total health budget, indicating a weakening of financial support for primary care," the report says.

The report also shows that the health expenses that citizens are forced to cover from their own pockets have increased to 59.7% in 2021, unlike the Ministry of Health's 44.5%.

"We have to admit that support for health has deteriorated, this is reflected in services to citizens and in their out-of-pocket expenses," said Alma Lahe, project manager at Together for Life.

Similarly, even health experts accept the deterioration of the situation related to the financing of this sector and consequently the poor provision of services.

"The health system in Albania suffers from low budgeting. The government is ambitious on paper, but limps in practice," said Zheni Gjergji, deputy of the Democratic Party and chair of the Parliamentary Committee on Health issues.

Other vulnerable groups affected by the lack of funding and services in the health field are those suffering from mental health problems, as well as children.

According to the findings of the report, the Ministry of Health and Social Protection has failed to strengthen services for the treatment of people with mental health disorders and to improve access and quality in these services.

"Regarding the increase of staff capacities and training for mental health, none of the other activities foreseen until 2024 have been achieved", quotes the report of Together for Life, where, among other things, it is emphasized that of the four new support homes planned to be set up in the period 2022-2024 in Tirana, Vlora, Dibër and Pogradec for persons who are transferred from psychiatric hospitals, none has been set up.

The report also highlights the lack of transparency on the concession contracts, among which is the basic medical control known as Check Up.

"In 2022, the concessionaire was also paid for 20,182 patients who did not perform the control, which has sparked a great public debate about the contract drawn up and signed in a great lack of transparency and, moreover, to the detriment of public interests, " concludes the report./BIRN