Citizens continue to go to health centres near their places of residence to be provided the check-up service free of charge.

The national program of basic health check for all Albanians living in the country and belonging to the 40-65 age group, urges 900 thousand Albanians to go once a year to the health centre near their places of residence and have a basic check-up, free of charge, regardless of whether or not they are covered  by healthcare insurance.

The check-up is the first concrete step toward universal coverage, the major objective of the government program in the healthcare system.

Accompanied by the Minister of Health Ilir Beqaj, Prime Minister Edi Rama visited today the health centre no. 10 in Tirana, to see closely how the check-up is implemented in the cabinets of this centre used for this purpose.

The health centre No.10 is the largest in Tirana, covering an area of approximately 80 thousand inhabitants of the municipal units 3 and 4, 20 thousand of which are aged 40-65. The staff of 114 physicians is available throughout the day, in two shifts.

The Prime Minister talked with the doctors of the centre and citizens who were there to do check-up, most of them for the second time. “This is the second time that I have made the check-up. My tests are excellent”, told the Prime Minister one of the citizen, who said also she was pleased with the work performed by the medical staff.

Informed on the importance of performing a basic check-up, citizens feel relieved because this service is provided for free. “This is the first time for me. I decided to have a check-up because I haven’t been feeling very well. Thankfully it is free, and is a service provided by the state. You have to do it”, another citizen said.

Dr. Rudina Gjini, in addition to explaining the process, said that the interest of citizens is increasing along with the number of those who have check-ups. She said also that an important work in this direction has been made by doctors. “Our Centre is the largest in Tirana, with a staff of 114 people. We serve an average of 80 thousand residents, including the municipal units 3 and 4. Attendance is increasing. We had some issues a few months ago, because people do not understand that you can go to the doctor even when you are healthy. It is the first time that prophylaxis is being provided in Albania. This is the best thing, and doctors understand its importance. We are trying to change the mentality.”

Another doctor said that an average of 12 patients per day receive the check-up, and they are satisfied with the service. “An average of 12 people per day come here for the check-up. Procedures are carried out regularly and people are satisfied”, the doctor said.

Everything is made by reservation in order to avoid long wait for citizens. “Citizens make a reservation and come here based on a schedule, to avoid confusion”, another doctor explained.

Prime Minister Edi Rama said that the check-up has established for the first time a very important database to continue work on the health system with universal coverage.

“We are the only country in the region and in Europe to not have a people’s medical record, therefore we do not know what the general situation is, and what the most problematic diseases are, what to do with policy in the future, and so on.

This database is being established for the first time after more than 20 years, because more than 20 years ago even cows and the sheep had their card. But here everything was gone. It would be great to have it for the entire population, but we are focused on the age group 40-65 because this is where the first health issues appear. In addition to raising awareness, this is good because we have created a database for the first time, and we do the policies we need based on this database. We cannot do the healthcare system with universal coverage, namely free for those who cannot afford it, without this database”, the Prime Minister said.

The basic health control includes health risk assessment for 7 important health issues for every citizen. They are: 1) arterial hypertension; 2) Obesity; 3) Smoking; 4) Cholesterol; 5) Poor diet; 6) Physical inactivity; 7) Use of alcohol. Everything observed during the inspection is recorded in the electronic health file, and the risk management process is carried out according to the risk assessment.