TIRANA, Nov. 1 – On Wednesday, the Together for LIfe Association published a study showing the majority of doctors admitted they are ready to leave Albania due to difficult working conditions which make them feel underappreciated and overworked.
According to the study numbers, approximately 80 percent of doctors who participated in the polls are ready to leave the country.
The study, which has been supported by the Friedrich Ebert Foundation, found that 24 percent of doctors are ready to leave immediately, while 54 percent would leave if given the chance.
Doctors in university campuses, according to the survey, are more likely to leave the country than those working in regional hospitals. Nearly 40 percent of doctors with scientific degrees consider leaving Albania an important step in their career.
Most doctors in university hospitals claim to have significant workplace deficiencies, feel undervalued, overworked, and under stress.
Albania has on average one physician per 1000 inhabitants, while remote areas in broken geographical terrains have the biggest difficulties in getting medication.
Doctors claimed to a large extent in the surveys that they are insecure at work, and are being criticized more than they should.
Further on, they said that they themselves have lost confidence in the health system and want to leave Albania for professional and economic reasons.
They consider that the biggest problems in the Albanian health care system are management bureaucracy, financial insecurity and non-funding to increase the quality of services.
The lack of specialized doctors in recent years has affected both regional hospitals and university centers.
The overwhelming majority of doctors rank them in the most bad-paid group in the health system, while pointing out that the future in Albania is unsafe.
This, of course, is not the first time attention is drawn to this alarming issue. A number of health analysts have said in the past Albania is facing a massive doctor shortage and losing specialists at an alarming rate as emigration and retirement rates soar.
“It’s getting worse every day. Albania is running out of doctors. In two and half years, more than 400 doctors have left the country. Add to that figure the number of those retiring and the number of those graduating every year is less than those leaving practice,” former Minister of Healthcare Tritan Shehu warned two years back.
Back then, Albania had 1,1 doctors per 1000 inhabitants, while EU countries have around five doctors per 1,000 inhabitants, and neighboring Macedonia has 4.6 doctors per 1,000 inhabitants.
The causes for the low number of doctors and beds stem from little investment in the sector, which include inadequate salaries medical personal and not giving incentives to specialize.
Many young doctors apply to emigrate to Germany and other countries at the first available time.
The trend has been warned to get worse once Albania joins the EU, as seen by countries like Bulgaria and Romania, which have seen an exodus of medical professionals toward the wealthier northwestern part of the continent.
