Prime Minister Edi Rama worked today in the region of Kukës.

He started the day with a visit to the regional hospital of Kukës, where investments have been made recently in the hospital infrastructure, in technology and check-up devices. In addition to the telemedicine service, citizens of Kukës are now provided better health care thanks to improved capacities, after new equipment such as ECG, Monitors, Aspirators and the device for heart ultrasound were installed in the emergency room of the regional hospital. Through the service of telemedicine, teams from the UHCT provide in real time more specialized consultations on distance. Another free service provided by this hospital is that of the mammography. Technological improvements will provide citizens services of increased quality. According to the Prime Minister, the citizens of Kukes, Tropoje and surrounding areas will henceforth receive the necessary services here without having to travel to Tirana.

“Telemedicine has made a lot easier for citizens of Kukës, for patients and their families to receive health care. Until yesterday, 70% of them had to travel to Tirana, while today thanks to this service they will be provided services here.”

According to the Prime Minister, one of the most concerning issues promptly addressed by the government was supplying hospitals with medicines. It can already be considered a completed task.

“The situation has improved, starting from the supply with medicines which, as you know since you do this job every day, is today guaranteed as opposed to what it used to be 18 months ago. Furthermore, I am very much encouraged by the fact that for the same amount of drugs that have been put on the market from 2013 and to today, we have saved 70 million dollars. In reducing the price, as we committed, we have not only increased benefits for those who buy these drugs, but we have also provided a very substantial amount of money to fund the reimbursement of medicines and to supply hospitals. We have paid off 40 million dollars of arrears, which were debts of the entire hospital system and which led to the terrible block of 2013 when suppliers wouldn’t accept to provide medicines because they needed their money back”.

Investments in hospitals will continue in surgical rooms.

Another 32 million Euros will be invested in the second half of the year to enhance the hospital system. The turnabout has started also in the health system and we are in the right direction, the Prime Minister noted, not only as far as the system transformation is concerned, but also in the support provided to employees of this sector.

“We are in the right direction. 13.478 nurses and technicians have paid 4 million dollars less in taxes, while 4 million dollars have been distributed to household budgets of this category, which has justly benefited more by the fair taxation. Likewise, 3.234 doctors have paid 620 thousand dollars less in taxes, because they also were beneficiaries of reduced salary taxation”.

All this, the Prime Minister noted, is a reason enough to believe that the work started to stop this terrible hemorrhage of the health system will continue with its thorough transformation across the country.