In Tirana, the non-profit organization Together for Life conducted a comparative study on the promises of political parties in the health sector during the election campaign.
The authors of the study say that political parties campaigned with truncated strategies for health development.
Together for Life conducted this study on the electoral promises of major political parties in the health sector, given that it is the most important to observe currently due to the Covid-19 pandemic, but also for the fact that it is one of the sectors most exposed to corruption in Albania.
The authors believe that the Covid-19 Pandemic is more of a challenge to the governing system in Albania than to the health system. The Together for Life Association found the support of the Konrad Adenauer Foundation to conduct an analytical report on the programs of the six political parties, which are dedicated to the health sector.
"None of the political parties offers a national action strategy to deal with the Covid-19 pandemic situation which is expected to continue without a deadline. "All parties promise reforms in the health system, but in no case is mentioned the increase in funding for health, at least as much as the countries in the region in relation to the National Domestic Product" - says Denisa Canameti, co-author of the study.
The study observes how important political parties that aim to govern the country attach importance to the health of the population, what programs, strategies, or platforms they have ready.
The three major political parties seem to prioritize health in their political programs, focusing on the three main pillars of reorganizing the health system, the quality of medicines, and investing in public health.
But only 2 of them have a public program in general and have published priorities for health in particular.
"They envisage investments in public health and in the development of the primary health care system, but do not envisage the creation of data registers for non-communicable diseases as a necessity for statistics for better future planning in the health care system" - says Ms. Canameti.
The study authors require that each point of the health program also have a development strategy; how the reform will be achieved, with what legal and financial components, how the medical staff will be motivated, how the number of medical professionals will increase, professionals, specialized in covering the population with medical services.
They stressed that the points of the health program should be accompanied by a financial bill to understand whether budget constraints are foreseen and how feasible these reforms can be.
Public health has been at the forefront of this year’s election campaign mainly due to the Covid-19 pandemic and due to perennial concessions in this area.