Former Health Minister Uran Ismaili has criticised the current minister, Arben Vitita, for lack of medicines, long waiting lists for health services, and problems in managing the health system, despite the divided budget for the sector.
Ismaili, now Democratic Party of Kosovo MP ( The PDK, it has said that although the Government and the Health Ministry have stated that the divided budget is historic, this has not been translated into sufficient supply of medicines for patients.
According to him, the lack of drugs is causing citizens not only financial difficulties but also emotional burdens, since they are forced to buy their own medications and are not certain if they will find it at the time they need.
This is a huge problem that’s been happening for years, even though we’ve had a government promotion, and especially the Ministry of Health, that the budget is historic, is a very high budget. However, this is not translated into drugs that our citizens need, has declared Ismaili for Online Economics.
He has stressed that rising prices and inflation make it difficult for families to cover drug spending, adding that some of them are forced into debt to secure them.
According to Ismaili, the drug supply is a right that should be guaranteed by the state and their lack constitutes failure in the functioning of the health system.
On this issue, he has announced that they have demanded that Kosovo Hospital Service Director and University Clinic be invited to the Parliamentary Health Commission ( Sa SKUK) and Health Minister Arben Vitita to provide clarifications about problems with the supply and functioning of the system.
However, according to him, the request for their invitation has not been approved, as it has been rejected by the deputies of the Vetevendosje Movement.
We’ve invited the CEO of SKKUK and the Health Minister to come. Our guest request was not voted. So our request was rejected by the deputies of the Vetevendosje Movement. However, we will continue to ask that they come to the relevant parliamentary commission and respond, Ismaili said.
He has demanded that the reasons for lack of drugs be considered, citing the possibility of malplanning, abuses, higher prices or other problems in managing health institutions.
According to him, citizens should not face uncertainty about providing drugs, while institutions must account for the way public money is spent.
Ismaili has also criticised long waiting lists for health services, saying they may be the result of lack of investments, but also mismanagement, lack of vision and institutional discipline.
He has warned that long expectations can push patients to private hospitals, where they are forced to pay large sums of money for treatment.
Every time there is a waiting list, the tendency is to get that list to private hospitals, where thousands of euros are paid. Therefore, it should be viewed directly as having lists of expectations: are there a result of the desire to abuse, create passive corruption, or lack of investment?
Ismaili has sought transparency from health institutions and responsible officials in order to identify concrete problems and take measures to improve services.
He has estimated that the lack of transparency leaves corruption and mismanagement unresolved, while financial burden continues to burden citizens and their families.
Source Layer: Dukeagini
