– Gjon Bruçi –
At the end of its third term, and as it prepares to swallow the fourth, the current government is being accompanied by a “density” of scandals. The latest one occurred two days ago at the Oncology Hospital, where cancer patients are treated. This scandal did not involve one or two hospital staff, doctors, nurses or administrators, but a structured and organized team executing the role of the mafia within the hospital, integral to the entire health care system and the government itself.
The oncology scandal has all the colours of genocide against cancer patients and others who have entrusted their lives to doctors, the hospital and the state, hoping for life without realizing that in a capitalist system, “man is a wolf to man.”
Forced by the eruption of the scandal, which is neither the first nor the last in this sector, the Prime Minister, the Minister of Justice and the Minister of Health made their initial statements, expressing with gestures and speeches their outrage at this “national” disgrace of “some white coats,” who, if suspicions are confirmed, “will be dressed in the stripes of prison cells.”
“Albania,” said the Prime Minister in the Socialist Parliamentary Group meeting, “has a public administration with a white part, but also a black part… I take this opportunity to thank and encourage SPAK prosecutors and hopefully others in regular prosecutors’ offices to do everything they can, reducing daily that black part, which is a national disgrace, a state disgrace, a public disgrace, a disgrace for everyone!”
Of the four “disgraces” mentioned by the Prime Minister, three fall apart. Neither the nation, the people, nor all citizens are responsible for the black part of the state administration, but rather the leader of this administration, Prime Minister Rama, is. He has been at the head of the government for 11 years, enough time to “purify” the administration until it could become completely white. If he hasn’t achieved this, as shown by the daily scandals, his incompetence is evident, and the least he should do is resign. However, this cannot happen, as even his namesake Berisha, with multiple scandals on his back, continues to preach honesty from the balcony over “Hope” street.
The same stance comes from the Minister of Justice, Manja, who tells us that “administrative investigations have started since January 2023,” but does not tell us why these investigations were not successfully concluded by the administration leaders. Even the prosecution discovered the scandal thanks to a client’s report who had suffered from the health care mafia.
Similarly, the Minister of Health Koçiu, directly responsible for this sector, not only expresses her indignation at this scandal and disgrace but promises urgent and harsh administrative and legal measures.
Unfortunately, none of these state administration leaders remembered to mention their responsibilities and the consequences they should face.
What were some of the mafias of this “structured team,” which I called a “mafia team”? Lack of new drugs for patients; halving injection doses to sell the other half privately; completely removing drugs or injections for patients nearing the end of their lives; intentionally breaking medical equipment (scanners, etc.), forcing patients to go private for therapy; indifference to the progress of the patient’s illness, as shown by the recorded dialogue of the nurse with the doctor, where the nurse tells him “the patients in the ward have a fever,” and the doctor, a chubby, red-faced young man responds, “ignore them”; and conversations among themselves about calculating “extra” profits from patient surgeries, securing holidays in the Maldives, etc.
If it were only about the oncology case in Tirana, we could overcome our concern, but the citizens are sure that these phenomena extend to all hospitals and health centres in the country. Come to Shkodra, for example, and I will tell you my case, where despite having 30 years of health insurance, in January 2024 I had to do a “scan” at the “American Clinic” (with Shkodran doctors) because the public hospital’s scanner was broken, a needle had broken, etc… As a result, that broken needle from the public hospital in Shkodra cost me 20,000 new lek or 200,000 old lek (a monthly pension). And this happens not only with broken scanner needles but also with regular analyses that you are forced to do privately because the public sector gives you results after 5 or 6 months when the disease has progressed or when you have already “passed” the disease.
What has happened to health care, which we had free before the ’90s, and was promised the same by “democracy,” especially Edi Rama when he became Prime Minister? What has happened are Rama’s “reforms,” which have turned into “reformations” at the citizens’ expense. Can anyone believe that doctors’ “dual employment” would solve the problems of health care, even by tripling or quadrupling doctors’ salaries? Can anyone believe that public-private partnership tenders for analysis, sterilization, “check-ups,” etc., would improve and solve problems in these troubled sectors? No one has believed it, not even the authors of these strange “reform-reformations.” But, those connected to these “dual employment,” tenders and tricks believed it, leading to the “oncology” scandal, today’s model of Albanian health care. Let’s stop for a few lines on doctors’ dual employment: In the state and in private. Can anyone believe that after working eight hours in a public hospital or clinic, a doctor will continue for another eight hours in private? In reality, the opposite happens; the “private” hours are added at the expense of the “public.” This happens because the salary in the public sector is fixed, while in the private sector it generates more “significant” amounts.
Strangely, which is actually madness beyond madness, dual employment has extended to other sectors of the state administration, even to the Army structures. To illustrate, I bring the case of Mr. Bajram Begaj, President of the Republic. When he was Chief of General Staff of the Army, besides owning assets like land, houses, garages, shops and land areas, Mr. Begaj also owned a private medical clinic (as a doctor by profession) and simultaneously gave lectures as an external lecturer at several universities in the country. All these assets, including the “clinic,” could be managed through others or in free time and at night. But how could he manage university lectures, which take place during the day and not at night or on Sundays? Well, he managed: he left the duty of Chief of General Staff of the Army or more precisely “handed it over to NATO” and ran to the lectures!!! Of course, this is how every dual employment scheme develops when public work is mixed with private work.
I repeat for the umpteenth time, if anyone bothers to listen: in the entire “pleiad” of the 34-year-old transition elite of “democracy,” two personalities will remain long in historical memory: Berisha and Rama. The first for destroying Albania and the second for degenerating it. If these two continue to manage our political, economic and social life, our end as a country and nation will be quick and complete.
(Translated from the Albanian original and first published in “Gazeta SOT” on June 28, 2024)
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