Ida Ismail
Dozens of citizens have protested in front of the Ministry of Health, to denounce the lack of service in the public health system, especially in the Oncology Hospital, where cancer patients are treated. In contrast to the international campaign “Pink October”, which aims to raise awareness about breast cancer, the protesters chose the color black to express their pain, revolt and disappointment towards Albanian health institutions. With black balloons in their hands, they demanded medicines, equipment and proper treatment for cancer patients.
A citizen from Tirana, who lost two family members to cancer, shared her dramatic experience in Oncology: "My sister was operated on twice, an unprecedented horror. She took her medications privately, at a very high cost, since the hospital did not have them. She ended up in a wheelchair because they left her without medication, without chemotherapy, for four months. The disease worsened, she developed thrombosis and was left in a wheelchair. It is terrifying there."
Pedagogue Ermal Hasimja proposed a drastic measure, demanding that those in power be legally forced to seek treatment in Albania: "I know it's very difficult from a legal perspective, but maybe it would be good to have a law that prohibits those in power and their relatives from being treated abroad. To be treated here, like all citizens."
While journalist Osman Stafa called this month the "October of propaganda": "The Prime Minister calls on women to get mammograms, while at the Oncology Hospital, mammography has not been working for more than 10 days. Medicines are given outside of any international protocol. There are women who wait more than a month for medicines, while radiotherapy has been out of function for three months."
On the other hand, Migen Qiraxhi from "Citizen Stability" brought worrying data on the general state of the health system, referring to a report by the Supreme State Audit: "According to the Supreme State Audit Office, a sick person in Albania does not receive timely and quality health Services. The ratio between patients and beds is 1 to 5, so five patients must fight for one bed. The only way to receive treatment in our hospitals is on foot, while tenders are held to wash the institutions' cars every day."
The Oncology Hospital has become a symbol of the public health crisis in Albania, where for years it has been at the center of accusations of lack of medicines, inadequate conditions, and institutional indifference towards cancer patients.
