Since 2018, citizens from northern Albania have been receiving free hemodialysis services in Kosovo hospitals, but Kosovo Health Minister Arben Vitia says the agreement is being implemented only unilaterally and that Kosovo citizens do not benefit from the same treatment in Albania. Vitia adds that requests sent to Tirana remain unanswered.
"This is an agreement that has been in place since 2018. Citizens from the northern part of Albania receive hemodialysis services at the Gjakova Hospital, but also at the Prizren Hospital. We have requested three or four times, through the ambassadors of the Republic of Albania to the Republic of Kosovo, that this service be offered to citizens from Kosovo when they go on vacation. We have not yet received a response in this regard," Vitia was quoted by the media on Friday, during the inauguration of a new hemodialysis center in Podujeva.
He said that he had had a telephone conversation with the Albanian Minister of Health on this issue and was promised maximum commitment to the implementation of the agreement, but without a concrete deadline.
Data from health services in Kosovo, as BIRN found in a previous article, shows that by June this year, 842 Albanian citizens had received free hemodialysis services in Gjakova and Prizren. The hemodialysis unit in Prizren alone currently treats 16 patients from Kukes, who undergo a minimum of 13 sessions per month, according to medical protocol. Beyond this service, dozens of citizens of the Kukes district have long been receiving other medical services in Kosovo hospitals.
The director of Prizren Hospital, Narqize Arënliu (Hoxha), said in June, in a conversation with BIRN, that the costs of these services are a financial burden for the institution, but that Kosovo's Prime Minister, Albin Kurti, has encouraged it to continue serving patients from Albania.
The situation, meanwhile, is different for Kosovo citizens traveling to Albania. At best, they have to pay 120 euros for each dialysis session, while in some cases they are not offered the service at all. The hemodialysis service in Albania is almost privatized, through a 10-year concession granted by the “Rama” government.
BIRN has reached out to the Albanian Ministry of Health for comment on this matter, but has not received a response by the time of publication. /BIRN/
