TIRANA, March 28 – A survey conducted by Ministry of Social Welfare has found that at least 11 babies have been left in hospitals in the last three months by parents unwilling or unable to care for them, indicating for the first time how widespread the problem is becoming in the small Balkan country.
Data shows that, in 2016, 20 babies were abandoned in the maternity hospital Mother Geraldine. The infants were kept in hospital for more than two months and then they were transferred to the orphanages.
Experts have warned that abandonment is mostly done by young mothers who might be going through a divorce or suffering from poverty.
According to Save the Children, the charity organization, 70 percent of children that receive shelter in residential centers are abandoned due to poverty issues.
Minister of Social Welfare and Youth Olta Xhacka has called for a solution based at a local government level. She said Tuesday that municipalities must set up special infrastructure to offer services to this vulnerable category of people.
“Only 34 municipalities in Albania offer social services. The quality of these services is not similar and unified. These services must meet standards,” Xhacka said.
Official data shows that 846 children live in special residential areas, and 285 of these children have disabilities.
Albanian authorities claim to have stepped up efforts to set up the service of host families, a term relatively unknown in the country.
Data shows that since 1995, more than 700 newborns have been abandoned in the streets or in hospitals.
Researchers said their figures probably underestimated the extent of the problem. But using the 22,000 figure, the report estimated that caring for the boarder babies costs from $22 million to as much as $125 million annually.
