In the People’s Socialist Republic of Albania, health care services are free, including hospital stays for treatment, visits, analyses and treatment in clinics, home visits by doctors, and more.
Our socialist state has undertaken this highly humane duty and has spared no expense to provide the people with a scientifically-based, qualified and comprehensive medical service. The network of health care institutions has extended even to the most remote areas. This network includes hospitals, generally new and equipped with the necessary services, sanatoriums, maternity homes, day nurseries for children, dispensaries, institutions for scientific studies, hygiene-sanitary institutions, a wide network of dental treatment centres, pharmaceutical supply and the pharmaceutical industry. A doctor, including stomatologists, serves 579 residents. The number of treatment beds has increased more than 20 times compared to 1938. Efforts are made to organize and plan the entire health care service with correct and proportional criteria, to equip it with everything necessary for normal work and the appropriate personnel, who are working increasingly better to serve the people conscientiously and passionately.
In our curative and preventive institutions, systematic efforts are made against various diseases, not only for treatment but especially for prevention. Thanks to this preventive and curative work, from being the most malaria-ridden country in Europe before Liberation, today Albania is a country where there is not a single case of malaria. We have achieved great success with many other diseases that were rampant in the past. Today, syphilis cases are not found and tuberculosis has become relatively rare.
The mobilization of health care cadres, their continuous qualification, the political understanding of issues related to disease prevention and health propaganda, and the proximity of doctors to patients have made recent years’ successes even more visible, especially by creating healthy convictions in people based on the message of Comrade Enver Hoxha that we should educate people to visit the doctor or health care institutions not only when they are sick but from time to time for consultation and check-ups even when they feel well, so that any disorder in the body is detected in time before it causes discomfort and pain.
As a result of all this, while in 1938 the average life expectancy in Albania was only 38 years, by 1950 it had reached 53.5 years and by 1979 it was 69 years.
To form an accurate understanding of a country’s health care service, one must first look at how the health of mothers and children is protected.
Today, Albania has obstetric-gynecological and pediatric service standards that many other countries might envy. There are enough maternity beds so that all pregnant women, both in cities and villages, without exception, can give birth in them. Midwife-nurses work in every village, no matter how small; in both cities and villages, there are day nurseries where a significant percentage of young children are raised. There is advanced legislation for paid maternity leave before and after childbirth, for ensuring lighter work during pregnancy, and for the right to leave work every three hours to breastfeed the child. The free provision of medical drugs to children up to one year old, even in outpatient conditions, free vitaminization for pregnant women, and after birth, for their children, state subsidies for nurseries, etc., are very important factors that influence the continuous improvement of mother and child health.
The state creates the best possible conditions for the masses to spend their legally guaranteed rest in the most cultured way, in picturesque and climatic mountain and coastal resorts where comfortable vacation homes have been built. Additionally, the number and capacity of beaches are increasing year by year.
City and village workers are provided with the necessary material means for living in old age, in case of illness or loss of work capacity. The state also takes special care of the disabled from the National Liberation War, the war for the defence of the Homeland, and work-related disabilities, creating conditions for their rehabilitation.
For all these duties undertaken by the socialist state, large sums are spent, helping workers of all ages and professions to maintain and strengthen their health.
The protection of people’s health is seen in all aspects. The state obliges all investors to implement all measures needed to protect the environment from pollution from the early stages of work on new constructions. The law also assigns duties to social organizations and every citizen to protect the environment from pollution, to take a stand and make it an issue when any violation is observed that directly relates to preserving the health of the working masses. Now let’s address some specific issues.
When a child gets sick, a working mother has the right to stay home to care for them for nine days in a quarter, or up to 36 working days a year. For this leave, she is paid. If the doctor deems it necessary, additional unpaid leave can be granted for a mother to care for her sick child for a longer period. If the child is hospitalized, the mother, especially if breastfeeding, can stay in the hospital with the child as long as the doctor advises. For this entire period, she receives her salary according to social insurance rules.
According to sanitary legislation, every workplace is required to take measures to prevent occupational diseases of workers according to work sectors and the materials processed by workers. The workplace is obliged to install proper ventilation or aspiration systems for harmful gases, fumes and production dust, and to timely remove harmful waste from the environment. It is required to equip workers with personal protective gear against the production of noxious agents, which workers must wear during work. Workers are periodically subjected to medical check-ups and relevant laboratory tests. No new worker is admitted to work without a medical report certifying their health status.
Every woman, as soon as she suspects pregnancy, presents herself at the women’s consultation clinic, both in cities and villages. The clinic keeps her under constant observation, monitors the normal development of the pregnancy, and if any deviation from the norm is noticed, it requires her to consult with specialist doctors. She is given six months of paid leave. The expectant mother prepares for the child’s arrival by following the midwife or doctor’s advice. She attends a health education course called the mother’s school, where she learns how to properly raise the child. A working mother has the right to leave work every three hours to breastfeed as long as she is nursing.
Our state spares no expense for the lives of crippled children. It spends large sums to make them capable of living. Special institutions have been established for these children to correct congenital defects such as femoral head dislocations. For mentally disabled children, there is also a central institution in Albania where they undergo appropriate psycho-pedagogical and medication treatment. Achievements are satisfactory; many of these children have integrated into life like everyone else.
The revolutionary triad of school — education, productive work, and physical and military training — operates in the Faculty of Medicine as well. Besides lessons conducted according to programs and plans, students engage in differentiated medical practical work from the first year of the faculty. First-year students, for instance, have one month of practice and perform tasks akin to those of a sanitation worker or nurse. According to subjects, practical lessons are conducted in laboratories or at the patient’s bedside under direct supervision. The sixth year of the faculty is done practically in the clinics of internal diseases, surgical, pediatric and obstetric-gynecological diseases. The ratio of practical work to theoretical work is harmonized to equip the student with practical skills that enable them to meet the requirements to properly treat the patient.
The doctor-patient relationship, devoid of any material interest, is based on mutual respect and socialist humanism. Doctors care for their patients, listen attentively and strive to alleviate their pain. Patients generally appreciate doctors and heed their advice. Our doctor’s daily practice includes a live connection with the people, meeting with groups of workers, citizens, and villagers to engage in discussions and lectures to raise the workers’ health culture and education.
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