FLASH
Shkruar nga Pamfleti
Just a few days after the arrests of SPAK for the public private partnership contract of sterilization, Prime Minister Edi Rama and the then Minister of Health, Ogerta Manastirliu, appeared at the "Shefqet Ndroqi" hospital in Tirana to call it 'a success'.
In the corridor of the hospital, some old and rusty surgical tools were on display, while the cameras took care to fix the contrast with the new sterilization apparatus.
"...only the reduction of the days after the operation of staying in the hospital has brought a financial profitability that is higher than all the total expenditure that has been made for this process," said Rama from the "Shefqet Ndroqi" hospital.
The same message was reinforced by Manastirliu, who referred to a study by the Institute of Public Health, ISHP, on the efficiency of investments in surgical services.
"This year, ISHP has done a study on the efficiency and effectiveness of all investments in surgical services and has examined one of the biggest investments, which is the integrated service of instruments and sterilization, and what it has come out with is this: This investment has reduced by 20 per percent the use of antibiotics, the second has reduced the days of stay, and from 2014 until now it has decreased by 2.3 days of stay...," said Manastirliu.
But unlike the messages of Rama and Manastirli, ISHP told BIRN that it had not carried out an evaluation on the implementation of the sterilization contract.
ISHP said it had conducted the study entitled "Assessment of the progress of infections associated with post-surgical health care, after effective interventions in the health system", but did not make it available to BIRN.
"This study conducted was not specifically to evaluate the implementation of the contract you refer to," said ISHP director Eugena Tomini in a response to BIRN.
The concession of sterilization of surgical equipment is the most expensive public private partnership contract of the 'Rama' government in the health sector, which has cost Albanian taxpayers about 76 million euros until the end of 2022.
According to the investigation of the Special Prosecutor's Office, the concession was granted under conditions of conflict of interest, abuse of office and manipulation of the feasibility study. Former Deputy Minister of Health, Klodian Rrjepaj and businessman Ilir Rrapaj have been in jail for two months for this contract, while investigations are also being carried out for former ministers Ilir Beqaj and Shkëlqim Cani.
As the sterilization concession became tainted by the accusations leveled by SPAK, senior government officials diverted the public debate to the benefit the health sector had had – notably the reduction in hospital stay days.
To verify these claims, BIRN asked PIH for the study in question and received dozens of pages of monitoring in different hospitals of the country over the years on the level of hospital infections, but no comparative study on the impact of investments and even less of the concession contract of sterilization.
While the data on the reduction of operative wound infections have emerged according to the PIH from routine monitoring and are not related "to the assessment or a proper study".
According to the PIH, the decrease in hospital infections occurs due to several influencing factors such as; hospital infrastructure, sterilization and disinfection of surgical tools, working conditions, personal protective equipment, equipment with medical devices, adequate medication, aspiration system, etc.
Tomini's answer admits that the comparative studies for the years 2013-2023 show that microbial pollution has decreased, "after a series of prevention steps have been taken".
However, this institution was not able to give an answer as to how much the "sterilization" factor has influenced the improvement of the situation.
Prime Minister Rama did not respond to the request for comment on what data he had based his position on, while Manastirliu, who has held the position of Minister of Education and Sports since September, denied that a special study by PIH was referred to. in her word.
"I have referred to a series of indicators, which are part of several evaluation reports or research conducted in time series as well as data from health institutions and local and foreign experts and I have based myself on these references," she said through a spokeswoman for BIRN .
The last study of the PIH, which draws conclusions about the level of the impact of sterilization on the spread of hospital infections, belongs to the period 2010-2013, where surgical and resuscitation sets have about 23 percent of the weight for infections. / VOA
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