Evis Sala, Minister of Health and Social Protection of Albania, shared on LinkedIn:
“As I conclude my time as Albania’s Minister of Health and Social Welfare, I look back on an intense and deeply meaningful year, guided by one clear objective: to help build a stronger, more modern and more patient-centred health system.
Together with an extraordinary team, we have laid important foundations for the future:
- Oncology: Transformed care from a fragmented model towards a National Oncology Institute and a national hub-and-spoke network. Modernised radiotherapy capacity from two linear accelerators nearing the end of their life to three, with a fourth state-of-the-art accelerator and brachytherapy on the way. Increased funding for cancer medicines by approximately €26 million and introduced a new pricing methodology. The number of cancer patients receiving treatment increased by 17%.
- Hospital reform: Launched reforms in hospital organisation, financing, autonomy and strategic purchasing, with a stronger focus on efficiency, accountability and quality of care.
- Digital health and AI: Began the transformation towards an interoperable national digital health system, connecting hospital information, digital imaging, telemedicine and artificial intelligence.
- People and infrastructure: Expanded investment in hospitals, primary care and prevention, while increasing salaries for approximately 20,000 healthcare professionals.
None of this would have been possible without the people behind it. I am deeply grateful to my colleagues at the Ministry, healthcare professionals across Albania, our institutions and our international partners for their commitment, trust and hard work.
I now return more fully to my academic, scientific and clinical work internationally, while continuing to contribute to Albania and to the strategic projects we have begun – particularly in oncology, innovation and international collaboration.
I leave proud of what we have achieved, aware of how much remains to be done, and convinced that the most important reforms are those that endure beyond the people who initiate them.
A chapter closes. The commitment continues.”
Evis Sala: Historic Establishment of Albania’s First National Cancer Institute
