Prime Minister Rama continued today with the presentation of the new cabinet ministers, who have officially taken charge of their respective ministries.
Prof. Dr. Evis Sala is the new Minister of Health and Social Welfare, whom Prime Minister Rama introduced today at the premises of the University Hospital Center “Mother Teresa,” as a former outstanding student of the Faculty of Medicine, who for nearly 30 years has built one of the most remarkable careers among Albanians in Europe and across the world, standing out as a doctor, as an academic, and as a leader in some of the most renowned universities and medical centers worldwide.

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Good morning, and thank you very much for your presence.

I am especially proud and hopeful for the future of our healthcare service.

Today, I am pleased to officially introduce you to the new Minister of Health, Professor Evis Sala.

I am convinced that many of you, even in this gathering, know her as a once-brilliant student at the Faculty of Medicine, who has developed one of the most impressive careers among Albanians in Europe and beyond over nearly 30 years.

She has distinguished herself as an academic, as a doctor, and as a leader in some of the world’s most renowned universities and hospital centres. She worked at the Cancer Centre “Memorial Sloan Kettering” in New York, where she held the position of Professor and Head of Abdominal Radiology.
She furthered her studies at the University of Cambridge, where she worked as Professor of Oncologic Imaging, defended her doctorate, and completed her advanced specialisation in radiology.

Before returning to Albania in recent days to take this new duty, she had for several years headed the Department of Diagnostic Imaging and Radiology at the “Gemelli” University Polyclinic, while also teaching at the Catholic University of the “Sacred Heart” in Rome.

Professor Sala has participated in scientific research groups funded by leading European and American agencies, has published more than 300 scientific articles, and delivered over 500 presentations and lectures in international academic forums. At the same time, she serves on the boards of several renowned European and global radiology associations.

Likewise, our new Minister of Health is a personality honoured with prestigious international awards and recognitions, among which I take special pleasure in highlighting her admission in Tokyo as the first woman ever to become a member of the distinguished “Japanese Radiological Society.”

Professor Sala also brings into this new government the shining example of successful Albanians in Europe and the world, to whom we will increasingly open the doors—whether to serve as professionals at every level, having massively invested in education and career, or to invest financially in Albania, as this is the land of their ancestors.

In our first mandate, we closed the deep gaps of inherited debt in our healthcare system.
In the following two mandates, we made significant investments to transform the infrastructure of our healthcare system, practically transforming many hospitals, building new hospitals, and hundreds upon hundreds of Health centres.
In the third mandate, we substantially increased the salaries of doctors and nurses, bringing them to a level comparable to the region.

Meanwhile, in the fourth mandate, we want to go further and delve deeper into the substance of transformation regarding what our healthcare, our healthcare system, our healthcare service must offer citizens, beyond transformed infrastructure and beyond what we owe doctors and nurses as compensation for their work.

I believe several key milestones have been set. It is very clear that there are two important pillars on which we will rely: on the one hand, the further creation and expansion of alliances with international excellence, and on the other, the prioritised integration of Artificial Intelligence in our healthcare system.
In the first aspect, we have already opened a pathway: here, on the premises of QSUT, we have signed an agreement with one of the Italian and European centres of excellence, both for the administration of QSUT and for the creation of a university in synergy between “Vita e Salute” University and our Faculty of Medicine.

We have begun direct cooperation for the Oncology Hospital with one of the best hospitals in the world, ranked number eight globally, “Sheba” in Israel. We want to go further with the establishment of a new medical university in Fier, next to the “Memorial” hospital.
We also want to proceed with building a centre-of-excellence hospital that will provide advanced services, serve as a reference point for health tourism, and be able to meet the very high demand, especially during the summer season, for hospital services.

On the other hand, we are in discussions to establish a strategic partnership with one of the most renowned companies in the field of Artificial Intelligence in healthcare, which is practically the only “unicorn” in healthcare that the United Kingdom currently has.

All of this, and more, will of course be in the focus of the new Minister, to whom I now pass the floor to share a few words on this day of her presentation, while naturally wishing her success in working with her former colleagues in the same grounds, as well as with newly reunited colleagues in these same grounds—after a journey around the world—and hoping that undeniable professional understanding will bring about the necessary understanding in administration, each according to their level of responsibility and position.

On the other hand, technology and AI can never replace the education and advanced specialisation of people, in this case, doctors and nurses. Therefore, in parallel, technology must be placed at the service of education, including continuing education, so that we always have a body that remains informed with every new development of the times.

Thus, we must not set any limit to our ambition and should consider it natural that we attract not only Albanian doctors from abroad, but also foreign doctors to work alongside you.
And these synergies we are creating, these alliances we will establish, will certainly help greatly in this regard.
And the challenge is that the service within the country must also be of the same standard.

Thank you!