Health and Social Welfare Minister Klodiana Spahiu received the certification during her first meeting in Albania with the new head of the WHO country office, Dr Fabio Scano, on Tuesday.

Scano presented Spahiu with the ETAGE certification, issued by WHO/Europe, confirming that Albania has achieved the European targets for hepatitis B control through immunisation.

The meeting also covered priorities including improving and protecting public health, strengthening the healthcare system and primary care, disease prevention, mental health, hospital reform and healthcare staffing, the ministry said.

Spahiu said the two sides had also discussed two strategic areas of cooperation, including a planned joint WHO-Ministry of Health project focused on public health in the Western Balkans.

“A joint WHO and Ministry of Health and Social Welfare project for public health in the Western Balkans will begin. This initiative, discussed at the highest level of cooperation between Albania and WHO/Europe, would be particularly important for strengthening Albania’s subregional role in public health,” Spahiu said.

She also highlighted cooperation with WHO in the context of Albania’s European integration in healthcare, particularly technical support to align health policies, legislation and the regulatory framework with EU legislation and standards.

Spahiu wished Scano success in his new role and reaffirmed Albania’s commitment to strengthening cooperation with WHO.

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The meeting focused on Albania’s partnership with the WHO as a factor in advancing national health policies and strengthening the country’s healthcare system.

According to the foreign minister, this cooperation remains closely aligned with the priorities of our national development agenda.

At the same time, cooperation with the WHO remains important for advancing reforms underpinning our ongoing negotiations for accession to the European Union.

“We look forward to further deepening our partnership—including through enhanced regional cooperation, innovation and the digital transformation of healthcare services—for the benefit of our citizens and communities,” stated Hoxha. /m.q/r.e/a.f/p.s./

“Albania strongly supports the WHO as the foundation of global health security, universal coverage, and evidence-based policymaking,” said Sala.

In her speech, the minister presented the main priorities of the health reform, emphasizing the strengthening of primary health care, the digital transformation of the system and investments in the modernization of hospital infrastructure and increasing the capacities of health personnel.

“On World Family Doctor Day, we celebrate the physicians who are the heartbeat of our communities. We are strengthening primary care to ensure equitable access to quality healthcare for all citizens, prioritizing early diagnosis, and chronic disease management close to home,” she said.

Minister Sala also emphasized the significance of expanding digital services and data-driven insights will streamline policy-making and improve collaboration between health providers. This transformation ensures a faster, more transparent experience for the public.

She highlighted two key priorities: modernizing hospital facilities and upskilling healthcare personnel as the backbone of the system, alongside building stronger emergency response and preparedness capabilities.

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Minister Sala reconfirmed Albania’s strong commitment to children being promoted into the center of social policies and reforms.

“We are among the first countries in the Western Balkans to have adopted a National Action Plan for the European Child Guarantee, with a clear focus: prevention, inclusion and leaving no child behind. Ending violence against children cannot remain just a declaration of will; it requires political courage and international cooperation”, underlined Minister Sala.

Albania is also part of the WHO Champions Council, an important step at a time when violence against children is increasingly considered a public health, human rights and development challenge.

Meanwhile, during the high-level event organized by the WHO Pan-European Commission on Climate and Health, the minister highlighted the growing impact of climate change on health systems, mental health and well-being, especially among children and young people, while presenting the priorities of the National Climate Change Adaptation Plan 2026–2036.

“For Albania, this is a clear national priority. We are implementing the National Climate Change Adaptation Plan 2026–2036, which places health at the center of adaptation efforts. Our priorities are to build resilient primary care and early warning systems, invest in our frontline workforce, protect vulnerable populations, and drive cross-sector climate and health action,” said Minister Sala. /e.i/j.p/p.s./

Addressing the post-pandemic health challenges, Manastirliu said that, “We, in Albania, have taken steps forward in terms of supporting the health system, strengthening it, aspects related to health care in terms of vulnerable categories and also addressing issues that come from the COVID-19 pandemic, such as mental health issues”.

“We have already started with implementation of the primary care strategy, including and integrating social services into health care. We have opened 50 medical centers which already offer integrated social care and we already have the objective of expanding these services with 50 more centers in primary care from 2023,” said Manastirliu.

In the speech held at the 76th WHO Assembly, Minister Manastirliu spoke about the mobility of doctors and the measures taken to address this phenomenon.

“The focus has already been directed to the challenge of the mobility of health professionals, where together with the WHO member countries, the countries of the region and the European countries, we will continue the cooperation to address this challenge, not only at the national level, but also at the international level in support of having and exploiting different forms of cooperation in order to have greater support for our human resources in terms of their training and continuing education and the empowerment of medical staff and teams within countries”, said Manastirliu.

The 76th Assembly of the World Health Organization is being held in Geneva, with the participation of the Director General of the WHO dr. Tedros Adhanom, WHO director for Europe dr. Hans Kluge, policymakers, experts and representatives of health institutions, where the challenges of health systems, the impact of the pandemic on the health of the population and the need to join forces and strengthen capacities, to guarantee preparation and rapid response to health emergencies such as and the role of technology and innovation in access to health services./k.s/ /gj.m/r.e/p.s./

The Western Balkans is no stranger to natural disasters such as floods and earthquakes. Moreover, the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic has clearly demonstrated the importance of the structural and operational safety of health facilities in the face of health emergencies.

With this in mind, public health and hospital authorities from the Western Balkans sub-region, with technical support from World Health Organization (WHO) and financial assistance form the European Union (EU),conducteda trainingin Durrës, Albania, on the use of the Hospital Safety Index (HSI) tool to assess the structural, non-structural and functional components of hospitals, as well as on hospital response plan development.

“The ability of health services to be delivered by critical infrastructure such as health facilities without interruption in these situations is a matter of life and death,” says Jetri Regmi, Technical Officer on Preparedness with the WHO Regional Office for Europe.“Hospitals should be able to maintain their functionality at the maximum capacity during and immediately after major emergencies and disasters,” she adds.

The Hospital Safety Index is a tool used to determine the overall safety of hospitals and determine their likelihood of continued functionality in emergency situations. The safety index was developed by the WHO in 2009 for international use, as a way to assess hospital security, taking into consideration the surroundings and the network of health services that exist in each country.

“This is a practical tool that is used by health authorities and multidisciplinary partners to gauge the probability that a health facility will continue to be safe and operational in emergency situations, and it includes evaluation forms, a guide for evaluators and a safety index calculator,” says Dr. Kai von Harbou, Technical Officer in the Health Security preparedness division at WHO Headquarters.

It contributes toone of the targets of the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction 2015-2030which is, to substantially reduce disaster damage to critical infrastructure and disruption of basic services, among them health and educational facilities, including through developing their resilience by 2030.

For Dr. Abebayehu Assefa Mengistu, Coordinator of the WHO Health Emergencies Balkan Hub,“In order to achieve this and keep our health facilities safe from disasters, hospitals need to institute systems, procedures and capacities through the different components of the emergency management cycle.”

He adds,“These trainingshelp us prepare to keep our hospitals safe from disasters, by reducing risks, protecting health facilities, and most importantly, saving lives. The WHO would like to thank the European Union for their generous financial support in the framework of the EU DG Near Programme,which help organize these capacity-building activities that helppreparefor, and make health facilities safer in emergencies and disasters in the Western Balkans,” Dr Mengistu added.

WHO making health facilities safe in emergencies and disasters

For a safe health facility to remain intact, accessible and functioning at maximum capacity before, during and immediately following an emergency or disaster, it relies on key factors, most importantly,having a health infrastructure in place that can resist all types of hazards. It also involves:

• medicine and medical equipment that are essential, accessible and protected from damage from all hazards (including climate change impacts);
• community infrastructure and critical services (such as water, food, electricity and medical supplies) that are available to support the delivery of health services; and
• health personnel who can provide medical assistance in safe and secure settings where and when they are most needed.

WHO’s safe health facilities’ programme supports Member States to:

• develop national policies and regulations on making health facilities safe from disasters;
• protect the lives of the occupants of a health facility;
• protect the economic investment as well as the functionality of both new and existing health facilities and those identified as priorities (e.g., hub hospital) within the health services network;
• compile, organize and monitor the implementation of policies as well as national and international regulations on safe health facilities; and,
• make health facilities safe, energy-efficient and resilient to future risks, including climate change.

For more information on the WHO Hospital Safety Index and WHO’s Safe Health Facilities’ Programme read here: https://www.who.int/activities/making-health-facilities-safe-in-emergencies-and-disasters

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In the opening session, Minister of Health and Social Protection Ogerta Manastirliu expressed the commitment to the inclusion of young people in decision-making, at all levels.

“This forum is a fantastic opportunity to bring together so many young people and public health specialists from across the WHO European Region, to create networks and collaborations, to discuss the consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic as well as on other aspects of health and well-being that affect the young generation”, said Manastirliu.

Speaking about the consequences of COVID-19 on the mental health of young people, Manastirliu said that Albania is implementing the integration of social and health services.

“For the first time in Albania, we have integrated social care services with those of health care, through implementation of advanced European models. This is the essence of our New Strategy for primary health care. Dozens of young psychologists are joining health centers across Albania. This new program will guarantee that boys and girls, men and women have access to comprehensive services, supporting our vision for an Albania where no one is left behind, with the final objective of guaranteeing universal health coverage”, said Manastirliu in front of the young people.

Speaking of the challenges of the time, from fake news about vaccines; mental health to reproductive health and the rights related to it, to digital health, Manastirliu said that Albania is implementing a program to improve the digital skills of children and young people.

The Youth Health and Welfare Forum is holding its proceedings in Tirana from October 25-27, bringing together hundreds of young people from 42 countries around the world, together with government and civil society partners, to engage in real dialogue, to build trust and find better ways to involve young people in policy decisions that affect their health and future.

Attending the event is also the WHO Director for Europe Dr. Hans Kluge./k.s/p.s./

The 3-day training sub-regional WHO-run “Simulation Exercise Management Course”, which took place in Tirana, Albania, aimed to improve capabilities in this area. The workshop, which was organized by WHO with the generous financial support funded by the “EU DG NEAR Project on Strengthening Health Systems Resilience in the Western Balkans,” aimed at introducing the WHO methodology for planning and managing simulation exercises.

In emergency preparedness, in which action, funding, partnerships and political commitment at all levels must be sustained, it is essential that national stakeholders are made aware of all possible risks and threats.

In keeping with the WHO’s tools and guidance documents, the first comprehensive simulation exercise (SimExs) training workshop included 35 participants involved in national emergency preparedness activities from the Western Balkans, Moldova, as well as Ukraine.

The importance of such SimExs was underscored by many organizations and across sectors, as important learning tools and an effective method to identify best practices, challenges and key lessons in order to improve response capability.

In her address to the opening session of the event, Ms Ketrin Zeno, Director of Public Health at the Ministry of Health and Social Protection of Albania, said that “It is important to note that emergency preparedness is a continuous process in which action, funding, partnerships and political commitment at all levels must be sustained. It relies on all stakeholders working together effectively to plan, invest in and implement priority actions.”

SimExs have been identified as key components in the validation of core capacities under the IHR monitoring and evaluation framework post 2016 (IHR MEF) and are a critical component of an emergency management programme.

Commenting on the role of simulation exercises in preparing for and responding to public health emergencies, Dr Abebayehu Assefa Mengistu, Coordinator for the WHE Balkan Hub said “For simulation exercises to contribute to the development of emergency preparedness capabilities, they need to be institutionalized and conducted on a regular basis with a clear guiding strategy.” We call this an simulation exercise management programme, he added stressing that, “we hope this event will provide you with an opportunity to learn how to develop, implement and evaluate SimExs, as well as discuss ways for maintaining SimExs management programs in your own specific context.”

After the workshop, participants are expected to familiarize with the WHO guidance and tools for managing simulation exercises, as well as prepare candidates to support the planning, development and implementation of these types exercises at their specific context.

The course was ran by experienced trainers from the WHO Regional Office for Europe, WHO headquarters and partner institutions, including the UK Health Security Agency and ECDC (European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control).

In her message addressed to the 75th World Assembly of Health, which is being held in Geneva-Switzerland, Manastirliu highlighted that Albania supports the WHO report on the peace initiative and joins the demands and commitments of member countries to strengthen the Program of WHO Health Emergencies.

“Albania has welcomed the reports from the WHO on the peace initiative and has joined the requests of the Director General to consult with member states and observers, to implement the possible suggestions in the report,” said Manastirliu.

The 75th World Health Assembly is being held in Geneva, Switzerland, on May 22-28, 2022. It is the first Health Assembly held since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, where the main theme is “Health for peace, peace for health”./j.p/p.s./

Manastirliu has expressed Albania’s support for the International Treaty which will better help prevent, prepare and respond to pandemics and health emergencies.

“Prime Minister Edi Rama was among those leaders who earlier this year called for the drafting of a new international treaty on combating the pandemic”, said Manastirliu in her speech.

The minister of health stressed that the COVID-19 Pandemic has been a test for all countries.

“We launched and escalated the national population vaccination campaign against COVID-19, which as a matter of fact was not simple – because neither global solidarity, nor the promised equality happened – while we have to deal with waves and variants of the names of this virus, its destructive wave continues”, said Manastirliu.

The minister of health stressed that the joint efforts towards the International Treaty on Pandemic Prevention, Preparation and Response is a step towards a stronger and faster collective defense./p.s./