FLASH
Shkruar nga Pamfleti 
Evis Sala proposes 30% co-financing from patients for vital medications, while public funds and tenders disappear
The shocking decisions of the Minister of Health, Evis Sala, regarding the vital needs and financial difficulties of patients being treated at the Oncology Hospital of Tirana continue. According to information provided by "Pamfleti", from sources within the Ministry of Health, Minister Evis Sala and the Director of the Mandatory Health Care Insurance Fund, Arti Papajani, have gone so far as to approve a scheme where cancer patients must pay for part of the medicines themselves.
"Financial solidarity", according to the minister
Minister Evis Sala has called this decision an “initiative for financial solidarity with the hospital,” proposing that Oncology patients pay 30% of the cost of medications that are missing from the hospital pharmacy. In practice, this means that the state, which has a legal obligation to provide free treatment and medications for oncological diseases, is passing the financial burden on to patients and their families.
This scheme is proposed at the same time as the minister has publicly stated that 2 billion lek have been added to the supply of medicines to the Oncology Hospital. However, medicines continue to be lacking, while patients are forced to buy them at private pharmacies near the “Mother Teresa” Hospital Center.
List of medications that patients must pay for
According to the documents and information provided, the 30% co-financing scheme includes a number of vital medications for cancer treatment, among them:
Cetuximab, Irinotecan, Irino, Carboplatin, Herceptin, Goserelin, TDM1, Brachytherapy, Phesgo 1200/600, Phesgo 600/600, Axitinib, Immunotherapy, Actinomycin-D, as well as other specialized medications.
These drugs turn out to be procured by the ministry through tenders, but are missing from the hospital pharmacy and are only found on the private market, where prices are unaffordable for most patients.
Lack of beds and equipment, overpayment
According to the current situation, for about 70 patients treated every day in the Oncology Department, there are only 17 functional beds. The rest of the patients are forced to wait, purchase services themselves, or even pay for medical equipment, repairs, and basic materials that the state must provide.
Instead of solving the management crisis, the minister has chosen the easier path: transferring the cost to the most vulnerable patients in the country.
Who approved this scheme?
The scheme has been approved by the Administrative Council, composed of senior government and health institution leaders:
- Evis Sala, President, Minister of Health
- Fatos Shkurti, vice president, representative of healthcare unions
- Arti Papajani, member, Director of the Mandatory Health Care Insurance Fund
- Xhoana Agolli, member, Director of Budget and Public Debt Management, Ministry of Finance
- Astrit Hado, member, General Director of the Social Security Institute
- Fatmir Brahimaj, member, President of the Order of Physicians
- Alqi Kushi, member, General Director of Economy and Support Services, Ministry of Health
This decision sets a dangerous precedent: the state retreats from its constitutional obligation to protect the life and health of citizens, while cancer patients are treated as co-financiers of government failures.
Instead of fighting corruption, fictitious tenders and the disappearance of funds, the government has chosen to bill the sick./ Pamphlet
Nese do kishte mundesi te ngrihej niveli i kurimit, perse jo!
Hajd se Noc Rrokun ke per te marre edhe ti.
ti je nga ata qe ke mercedesin ke dera po ha fasule me qepe per naften, se vajin e filtrat nuk ja nderron