Spahiu: If I Don’t Bring the PET Scan by 2027, I Resign — the State Takes Responsibility for Vital Health Services

“Either I bring the PET Scan, or I resign!” This is the promise made from the Parliament’s podium by Health Minister Klodiana Spahiu, who also set a concrete deadline for delivering it.

“The Oncology Institute starts in January. By early 2027, I will either bring the PET Scan or resign,” Spahiu declared.

In her speech during the interpellation called by the Democratic Party, Minister Spahiu spoke about three health services that, according to her, have been at the center of public and political debate: hemodialysis, sterilization and the basic medical check-up. “To understand where we are today, we must understand where we were yesterday,” Spahiu said, recalling the development of the hemodialysis service over the years. According to the minister, in the 2000s hemodialysis was a limited service, while 2005 marked a turning point, when the number of patients began to rise rapidly.

“The year 2005 marked a turning point; the number of patients began to rise rapidly. The dialysis service was opened, the first at the Elbasan Regional Hospital,” she said. Spahiu also referred to the situation in 2011, when Albania had reached 284 patients per million inhabitants. “But we were far from the required international figures,” the minister declared.

She said that in 2012 the service was offered in several regional hospitals, but the system continued to face technical and infrastructural problems. According to her, public capacities were not sufficient and the private sector took over an ever-larger share of the service. Spahiu also described the geographic spread of the service as a significant problem.

“Until 2016, patients from Vlora had to travel three times a week to Tirana for sessions lasting four hours,” she said.

The minister stressed the importance of investments in public capacities and the state taking direct responsibility. “Today another question should concern us: have we built the capacities for the state to take on this responsibility? For some of these services, the answer is yes,” Spahiu said.

As for sterilization, the minister declared that the service has been under the management of OSHISH since April. Regarding the basic medical check-up, she said state administration began on September 11.