The latest figures from the Eurostat agency show that based on purchasing power, Albanians are forced to spend on their health about 34 times more money than the average citizen in the European Union countries.
The heavy costs of this sector, which is supposed to be free in the country, are confirmed in interviews with Tirana citizens.
Citizen 1: “I have been doing tests and visits for 6 months for an operation I must have, do not ask me more. Even the best professors want money. If you do not pay here, you will not receive any service. It is useless what they say in public”.
“The health service here is rotten, nothing is free”, says a citizen.
Citizen 2: “Yes we pay 34 times more than a European citizen, but do you know that my pension is only 15 000 ALL ($140)”, says another.
Citizen 3: “Here is a concrete example. A prostate medicine that was free, now we buy it for 14 thousand old lek, per month. But that’s too much for a retiree. If it were not for our children that help us, we would not be able to make it.”
Citizen 4: “In Greece I am a regular citizen and I do not pay much for health expenses. The money I spend does not burden my pocket.”
Citizen 5: “I pay for myself and for everything I go to private clinics. I do not go to the state, because the state cannot treat me for the disease that I have “.
Citizen 6: “Medications here are extremely expensive. These two years of the pandemic, pharmacies have made money with us. Thank God for our children, as for us, with the pension we have, it is not even a question. Health burdens heavily on our pockets, especially for those of us who are poor.
Citizen 7: “During the pandemic I went to the private sector. Covid’s treatment cost me a lot, about 1 million ALL, medicines, scanners, nurses, etc. My pension is 220 thousand old lek ($200) per month. I did not go to the state clinics as they just mess about with you, while one’s life in danger.”
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