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2020
- 22 April
- By Undraa BAYANAA
- LAO/027
- Health
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LAOS – Luxembourg Cooperation supports Lao PDR’s efforts to tackle COVID-19Solidarity does not stop at our borders!
Luxembourg Cooperation, through its Lao-Luxembourg Health Sector Support Programme - Phase II (LAO/027) implemented by LuxDev, is supporting the Government of Lao PDR in its response to COVID-19 pandemic.

The Government of Lao PDR together with its international counterparts have reacted rapidly to the COVID-19 pandemic and have launched a national COVID-19 procurement list to facilitate the coordination of support and to deliver a strong and coordinated response at national and subnational levels.

LAO/027 is providing supplies and technical support in areas where gaps in capacity and resources have been identified. More specifically, LAO/027 Provincial Health Planning Management Advisors (HPMA) and Nurse-Midwife Trainers Advisors (NMTA) are closely supporting the COVID-19 preparedness in the three Provinces of Vientiane, Bolikhamxay and Khammouane that Luxembourg supports.

New In Patient Department at Bolikhamxay hospital

To ensure the efficiency and efficacy of its contribution, LAO/027 is:
- coordinating its support with national counterparts and other international development partners in Lao PDR;
- following the World Health Organization (WHO) Guidelines as well as international literature on COVID-19 emergency preparedness.
Sample taking

The LuxDev team is communicating on a daily basis with the National and Provincial Health Departments (PHDs), District Health Offices (DHOs) as well as with Provincial and District Hospitals to address the identified gaps and needs.

At the provincial level, LAO/027 is:
- providing support in the establishment of temporary provincial isolation and treatment centers to protect patients from infections and to separate COVID-19 patients from other ongoing essential non-COVID care (e.g. deliveries, surgeries, MNCH);
- working with PHDs and DHOs on regulating patient flows in the designated facilities (adequate first line clinical management, separate registration of suspected patients, sample taking and transportation to laboratories, hospitalization of confirmed patients, referral systems for critically ill patients);
- promoting the elaboration and dissemination of management and clinical procedures;
- supporting facility mapping and the Health Information System (HIS)
Training school

Moreover, LAO/027 is providing urgent logistics support. The Program is assisting the provincial authorities in operationalizing their provincial response by purchasing specialized medical devices and other supplies (i.e. acquisition of personal protective equipment, beds, fans, refrigerators, oxygen, disinfectant hydrogels, alcohol, pulse oximeters, among others).

Emergency equipment and medical supplies

So far equipment worth 107.000 EUR has been purchased and dispatched to the Provinces of Vientiane, Bolikhamxay and Khammouane.

The procurement needs and gaps will be continuously updated by the PHDs/ DHOs and will be shared in the coming weeks.

In these unprecedented times, besides the LAO/027 support, Luxembourg will continue to provide every support to its partner countries including Lao PDR. The proposed Luxembourg intervention engages at the national and provincial levels. The current budget proposal of Luxembourg for COVID-19 Health Response is 2 million EUR.
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- 14 February
- By Artan Sadiku
- Kosovo Office KSV/017
- Health
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KOSOVO - The ball of change keeps rolling
The Gjilan General Hospital (GGH), being one of the six public general hospitals of Kosovo, somehow sidelined by the healthcare system throughout the years, was one of the two General Hospitals (GHs) chosen for receiving support from the Health Sector Support Programme in Kosovo (Phase II), KSV/017 project. The beginning had its challenges, as there was resistance to change and new initiatives. It has been a while since working in a different manner and in a different setting was possible. But frequent workshops, trainings and introduction of new tools, as well as the purchase of the new equipment, seem to have accelerated development. Now support is coming in many spheres of their work, including: renovation, equipment and professional training.

After having renovated the new space for the CT scanner, the latter was installed, fostering the enthusiasm of healthcare workers in Gjilan. The CT scanner boasts 128 slices, the existing one being an outdated two-slice scanner. It’s the CT in the public sector with the highest performance. Beside the scanner, the Project provided the hospital with a whole set of new equipment.

Through the partnership agreement with the Murska Sobota hospital from Slovenia, two nurses provided a one-week training in Gjilan for the Surgery Department nurses, with practical and very useful lessons, including on-the-job training. The nurses from Prizren Regional Hospital also participated, creating a space for proper professional exchange with local, as well as international experience.

Through the GGH efforts to implement its five-year strategic plan, developed with the support of the KSV/017 project, the hospital has managed to involve other stakeholders. The Kosovo Hospital and University Clinical Service (KHUCS) has invested in the hospital, with a complete renovation of the Emergency Service, including new equipment, which has completely revamped this hospital service. Moreover, the outpatient clinics have also been completely renovated and reorganised, giving a completely new feel to this very important part of healthcare service provision in GGH.

The year ended with an end-of-year presentation followed by a reception at the hospital, with the management of the hospital presenting the results, and promoting the change initiated. The spark of change could be felt, as the conversations during the reception reflected another vibe for the years to come. The health professionals reflected on a successful year, with change accelerating, touching upon different key aspects of the hospital’s duties.

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- 16 January
- By Sommay Sibounheuang
- Asia Office LAO/027
- Health
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LAOS - 22 ophthalmic nurses are ready for delivering eye care services in hospitals and in remote parts of the countryLuxembourg and The Fred Hollows Foundation support capacity building for hospitals and rural eye care in Lao PDR
On 25 December 2019, twenty-two specialised ophthalmology nurses completed their training course at a graduation ceremony held at the National Eye Centre (NOC) hospital in Vientiane Capital.

Assoc. Prof Dr. Boauthep PHOUMMINDR (Deputy Director of Health Care Department at the Ministry of Health) and Dr. Siphetthavong SISALEUMSAK (Deputy Director of National of ophthalmology Center), presided the ceremony, joined by representatives from the Lao-Luxembourg Health Sector Support Programme LAO/027, which provided six-month scholarships to six of the graduates, under a collaboration agreement with The Fred Hollows Foundation in Lao PDR.

Scholarship recipients with Ms Sommay Sibounheuang, LAO/027 Scholarship Officer. ©LuxDev

The Fred Hollows Foundation (https://www.hollows.org) is an independent, not-for-profit international development organisation working towards the elimination of avoidable blindness. Founded in Australia in 1992, The Foundation helps to create sustainable eye care systems in more than 25 countries, including Lao PDR.

The Fred Hollows Foundation has a long-standing collaboration with the Ministry of Health and the National Ophthalmology Center, acquiring expertise in identifying national and provincial needs for eye care development, curriculum development and student selection, technical standards and supervision of eye care service delivery.

Eye examination in the provincial hospital in Bolikhamxay, newly renovated by LAO/027, ©LuxDev

The LAO/027 Programme and the Fred Hollows Foundation entered into a synergic collaboration agreement (September 2018 – December 2020), to provide complementary support for the capacity development and training of ophthalmology staff in the provinces of Bolikhamxay, Khammouane and Vientiane Province.

This partnership aims to support the national health authorities in organising 18 six-month ophthalmology specialist nurse courses, eight one-year “Basic Eye Doctor Courses (BED)” for newly graduated medical doctors, and 10 three-year Ophthalmology Specialists Residencies in Lao PDR and Thailand.

Along with the trainings, LAO/027 is also supporting the upgrade of eye care out-patient and surgery facilities in the provincial hospitals. The newly trained eye health staff will provide eye care through community outreach activities, such as cataract surgery.

While infectious eye diseases such as trachoma were virtually eliminated in Lao PDR over the last decades, the country still struggles to provide adequate care for aging-related eye diseases such as cataract and glaucoma. More prevalent in rural areas, these diseases cause poor vision and blindness, resulting in exclusion and a lower quality of life for the elderly. It is estimated that nationwide, only one third of serious cataract cases are being treated, and often still by sub-standard procedures.

The ophthalmic nurses graduation session, © LuxDev

The students graduated on Luxembourg Development Cooperation scholarships will be posted at provincial and district hospitals for delivering eye care services in hospitals and in remote parts of the country. They will also be educating communities about avoidable blindness, in collaboration with the Ministry of Health and provincial health departments.
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2019
- 26 December
- By Valid Apuk
- Kosovo Office KSV/017
- Health
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KOSOVO - Public hospitals network set to work with internationally recognized quality standards
Kosovo hospitals continue having weak reputation due to their inability to deliver quality healthcare services to population. The reform initiated in 2011 aimed to improve the quality, adequacy and efficiency of healthcare services. The redesign of the organizational structure of healthcare institutions, including the establishment of the Kosovo Hospital and University Clinical Services (KHUCS) was one of the major pillars of the healthcare reform. KHUCS was designed as a unitary health institution composed of all secondary and tertiary healthcare institutions aiming to contribute to the integration and improvement of the quality of healthcare services.

During 2018 and 2019, the project team led by the Chief Technical Adviser, key international and national experts, supported both General Hospitals (GH) of Prizren and Gjilan in initiating improvement of the healthcare quality activities, which are integral part of KHUCS. In GH Gjilan, the team worked with the staff of internal medicine department, while in GH in Prizren with the surgery department. Gjilan Hospital was supported to develop standards of operation and patient information sheets for stroke, heart insufficiency and COPD while Prizren Hospital produced standards of operations and patient information sheets for appendectomy, cholecystectomy and abdominal hernia repair.

The standard operating procedure (SOP) is a set of step-by-step instructions compiled by health care institutions to help its staff to carry out complex routine procedures, while Patient Information Sheet (PIS) provides sufficient information for the patients for their health problems. SOPs and PISs aim to achieve efficiency, quality output and uniformity of performance, while reducing miscommunication and failure to comply with professional standards. SOPs help to bridge the gap between evidence-based medicine, clinical practice guidelines, and the local realities at the point-of-care. They are necessary to remind clinicians of the need for medical evaluations and to monitor medication compliance. The use of SOPs has the added advantages, such are:
- Utilizing an optimized process for care;
- Implementation of best evidence-based medicine;
- Cost-effectiveness;
- Improved continuing medical education;
- Improved induction of new hospital staff;
- Integrated quality control;
- Transparency; and
- Enhanced protection from malpractice.
These achievements drawn interest by the leadership of KHUCS. Above mentioned quality standards gain application among all seven units of their public hospitals network. This may be first real step, toward longer term goal of international accreditation.

On 4th of July 2019, the board of KHUCS with an official decree approved six Standards of Operation (SOP), Patient Information Sheets (PIS), and informed consent sheet for clinical conditions of Appendicitis, Cholecystectomy, Hernia, Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD), Stroke and Heart Attack. This means that all public hospitals of Kosovo that are part of KHUCS network will be aiming to perform these procedures at international level standards. This is major progress considering that the use of clinical guidelines and a protocols for preventing, diagnosing, treating, and managing selected conditions was not enforced by legislation, and their use was left to individual initiative of medical staff.

This decision marks a peak of achievement for the General Hospital of Gjilan and Prizren, hospitals that have been supported through the “Health support Programme in Kosovo - KSV/017”.

When all these SOPs will be in place, the quality of patient care in Kosovo public hospitals will substantially improve. Hence approval of the first set of SOPs by KHUCS and their extension of implementation in Kosovo hospitals is a major step forward in improving the quality of care. This first step provides momentum to further development and extension of these quality assurance measures in other departments and clinical units of public hospitals in Kosovo.
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- 31 July
- By Valid Apuk
- KSV/017
- Health
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Kosovo - Luxembourg Aid contributed to a success story for Doctors Chamber
In the course of the reform process of the healthcare system in Kosovo, a number institutions were established, in order to establish a modern healthcare system. One of the main institutions established in 2011 was the Doctors’ Chamber (DC) of Kosovo, one of five Professional Medical Chambers, an independent organisation of doctors.

From 2011 to 2013, the project “Health Support in Kosovo – KSV/014” (predecessor of the KSV/017 Project) provided extensive support to the elaboration of the Law on Professional Medical Chambers which was adopted by the Assembly of the Republic of Kosovo on 30 May 2013. The Assembly elections were organised immediately afterwards, in which the first mandate of Doctors Chamber of Kosovo was voted and the first president was elected. Project KSV/014 supported the organization of the first elections and provided technical assistance in establishing the main bodies of the newly established organisation.

In December 2017 the second election was organized and a new Chamber president and Assembly members were elected. The election process was again supported by KSV/017.

KSV/017 continued to provide technical assistance to the DC in order to facilitate the newly elected management to successfully carry out its core functions. The registration and membership of doctors (one of its core competencies) was successfully carried out. Today, the Chamber has a membership of more than 4000 registered doctors.

Following the successful registration process, in February 2018, the Ministry of Health transferred the first public competencies to the Doctors’ Chamber and the Ethical Code supervision, which resulted in the full official functionalisation of the Chamber. Moreover, in April 2018 two additional competencies were transferred to the Chamber, namely licensing and re-licensing, as well as Continuous Professional Development (CPD). Hence, the DC issued 996 licenses for new specialists, doctors, and renewed licenses that had expired, fully implementing its role as foreseen in its statutes. The Chamber has become a fully functional and financially independent professional organization and since then has actively represented the interests of doctors for the benefit of both patients and doctors.

On 10 November 2018, the General Assembly of the Standing Committee of European Doctors approved the membership of the Kosovo Doctors’ Chamber as an Observer Member. This achievement was very welcome by the medical community in Kosovo, this membership was highly regarded, as Kosovar doctors would have an opportunity to exchange concerns and experiences with the highest level of medical representation at the EU level.

The priority of the Kosovo Doctors’ Chamber now is working on the process of transferring the last remaining responsibility, competency for Specialty Training, in close cooperation with Ministry of Health. KSV/017 supports the DC with continuous technical assistance and will provide a building for the Professional Medical Chambers in order to help improve their independence and financial sustainability.

The Kosovo Doctors’ Chamber is dedicated to ensure an annual programme of Continuing Medical Education to its members and also making sure that necessary points for licensing are collected and offered by this medical organization.

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- 4 July
- By Siraphat, Pikul, Nootjareerat
- Asia Office LAO/027
- Health
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LAOS - International Nurses Day Celebration promotes patient-centred care in Luxembourg supported hospitals
Each year in May, it has become a worldwide tradition to celebrate the founding of modern nursing as introduced by Ms Florence Nightingale, who gained fame for her pioneering work in training and organising nursing care during the Crimean War (1853-56), during which she cared for wounded soldiers.

In the Lao PDR, three provincial hospitals in the provinces of Bolikhamxay, Khammouane and Vientiane being supported by the LAO/027 programme. These provincial hospitals provide medical, surgical and obstetrical referral care for a total population of 1.1 million, as well as technical supervision to 28 district hospitals and 178 primary care health centres across the three provinces.

The above-mentioned hospitals have also embraced the International Nurses Day Celebration tradition since several years, to promote the importance of a modern nurses’ professional corps, which acts as an interface between doctors and patients, rendering quality hospital care effective and responsive to needs and aspirations of patients.

Poster of Nurse Day Celebration 2019 in Bolikhamxay hospital.

The LAO/027 programme has been progressively upgrading the medical and nursing practice and management in these hospitals to modern standards, through the provision of equipment, renovations, scholarships and intensive in-situ training, coaching and supervision by a dedicated team of external senior nurse-midwife experts since its start in 2014. Health care has been upgraded equally in district and village health facilities, for both curative and preventive care, with a focus on mother’s, new-born’s and children’s health.

Nurses Day Celebration 2019 in Bolikhamxay provincial hospital

Nurses Day Celebration 2019 in Khammouane provincial hospital

The 2019 Nurses Day celebrations in the hospitals of Bolikhamxay and Khammouane were held in May, presided by high-level administrative and sanitary officials, and were attended by medical doctors, nurse professionals and students.

Oral presentations and posters highlighted the progress accomplished over the last year in nursing techniques and organisation, and allowed nursing staff to take pride in their work and renew their commitment towards ad continuous quality improvement mechanism that will be an ongoing challenge for many years to come.

Joyful advocacy for hand-disinfection practice among nurse students, during the celebration in Khammouane hospital.

Officials learn from poster presentations prepared by Bolikhamxay nurses.

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- 23 June
- By Frank HAEGEMAN
- Asia Office LAO/027
- Health
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LAOS - Reinforcement of public funding and financial management
On 15 May 2019, HE Prof Dr Bounkong Syhavong, Minister of Health of Lao PDR, presided an inter-ministerial meeting of the National Council overseeing the Lao-Luxembourg LAO/027 Programme’s “Joint Participatory Mechanism” (JPM).

Women and children attending village health clinic

The JPM is an innovative financing mechanism, by which the LAO/027 Programme multiplies provincial government budgets annually on a common imprest account, for the timely provision of mother and child health services in three central provinces of Laos (population 1.1 Million). Application of the JPM multiplier formula is based upon well-defined budget-activity plans, timely imprest account deposits by the government and detailed target indicators on service quality, outputs and outcome.

The JPM began in 2018, following a previous 10-year experience of direct delegation agreement for Funds and Implementation.

Joint Participatory Machanism National Secretariat national review meeting 1st quarter 2019

The JPM aligns with the provincial budgetary planning cycles and provides effective and sufficient funding at the beginning of the fiscal year for the entire operational year. A transparent participative provincial planning process allows all district health system facilities (178 village health centres, 28 district hospitals) to receive operational budgets effectively and timely, through quarterly budget replenishment cycles.

Provincial training on Joint Participatory Mechanism financial management training

The National Council meeting hosted high-ranking representatives from the Ministries of Health and Planning and Investment, as well as the Resident Representative of the World Health Organisation and Mr Sam Schreiner, Chargé d’affaires a.i. Embassy of Luxembourg in Vientiane Laos.

Joint Participatory Machanism National Council Annual Meeting chaired by HE HE Prof Dr Bounkong Syhavong, Minister of Health of Lao PDR (thirth from the left) and co-chaired by Mr. Sam Schreiner, Chargé d’Affaires a.i. Embassy of Luxembourg in Vientiane (seond from the left)

During the recent meeting, the Council Members reviewed the results achieved during the first full year of JPM activities implementation in 2018, for a total budget of 1,082,136 EUR (20% MOH, 80% LAO/027 contributions), and endorsed the reports of the independent external auditors, stating a reconciled disbursement rate of 99% for the three provinces combined.

The National Council furthermore examined the first quarterly progress report of the ongoing 2019-year budget-activity plans, and approved the provincial activity proposals for the 2020 budget cycle (total provincial and Luxembourg amount combined of 1,317,952 EUR)

A JPM National Secretariat, embedded in the Ministry of Health, monitors quarterly the provincial results towards the achievement of the national targets for SDG 3 (Sustainable Development Goals for Health) and the national MCH policies and strategies. The Secretariat’s work is executed through the national Health Management information system and completed with supportive supervision and quarterly review and planning meetings.

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- 4 May
- By Valid Apuk
- Kosovo Office KSV/017
- Health
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KOSOVO - Let's go further !
There has been a long and successful cooperation between Luxembourg and Kosovo in the Health Sector. LuxDev has participated in the implementation of health sector projects YUG/005, KSV/014 and KSV/017 since 2004. Therefore the Ministry of Health (MoH) of the Republic of Kosovo submitted to the Luxembourg Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs (MFEA) a request for further support of the healthcare reform implementation.

Luxembourg granted an additional 7 000 000 EUR to the endeavour, bringing the total contribution of Luxembourg to project KSV/017 “Health Support Programme in Kosovo, Phase 2” to 13 000 000 EUR and mandated LuxDev to formulate the project extension. The project will now be extended until the end of December 2022.

The first part of the extended Project KSV/017 will focus on supporting the implementation of the healthcare reform agenda, especially the Health Sector Strategy (HSS2021), which has the following objectives: reforming leadership, management and Monitoring and Evaluation (M&E), separating the political and operational aspects of providing healthcare, integrating service delivery and introducing a Health Insurance Fund (HIF).

The project will mainly focus on continuation and consolidation of the capacity development activities at the MoH and other healthcare institutions, such as the Kosovo Hospital and University Clinic Services (KHUCS) including the University Clinical Centre of Kosovo (UCCK), the General Hospital of Prizren (GH PZ) and Gjilan (GH GN), the Medical Professional Chambers (MPC) and the Family Medicine (FM) training programme. Activities will include provision of technical assistance (TA) to the MoH, assistance with the implementation of the Strategic Plans of GH PZ and GH GN, TA and infrastructural support for the Medical Professional Chambers (PMC), as well as TA for the FM training programme.

The Project’s continued aim is to strengthen the health system by focusing on improving quality of care, access to healthcare and increasing the effectiveness and efficiency of service provision.

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- 1 February
- By Frank HAEGEMAN
- Asia Office LAO/027
- Health
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LAOS - Nurses and midwives receive short-term scholarships on High Risk Pregnancy and Nursing Care Management
Six young nurse-midwifes from Bolikhamxay, Vientiane and Khammouane provincial hospitals recently received a 4-month training scholarship on “High Risk Pregnancy Management “at the Boromarajonani College of Nursing in Khon Kaen (BCNKK) in Thailand.

In addition, the project offered scholarships to six young nurses, who are now working in intensive care or emergency units in the above-mentioned provincial hospitals. These students will study “Nursing Care Management for Trauma Patients" at the University of Khon Kaen, Faculty of Nursing.

These 4-month intensive upgrading courses target the education of young and dynamic candidates. In terms of the beneficiaries, there is an even split between civil servants and volunteer staff.

Investing in human resources for health is part of an ongoing effort of the LAO/027 project that aims to improve performance of health services delivery particularly for Maternal Neonatal and Child Health (MNCH) activities in the project areas.

Scholarship recipients, second row and four at the back row from the left.
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- 1 January
- By Valid Apuk
- KSV/017
- Health
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KOSOVO - Health Institutions present their 2018 results
On 13 December 2018, Project KSV/017 supported the Kosovo Hospital University Clinical Service (KHUCS) in organising an end-of-year event, aimed at presenting the progress of Kosovo Health Institutions during 2018, especially the General Hospitals of Prizren and Gjilan which are supported by the Project. The Minister of Health, Uran Ismajli, the Director General of KHUCS, Dr. Basri Sejdi, the Director of the General Hospital of Gjilan, Dr. Nisret Hajrullahu, and the director of the General Hospital of Prizren, Prof. Dr. Afrim Avdaj, presented the achievements of their respective institutions.

Minister Ismaili indicated that when priority is given to the healthcare investment, the health workers will be motivated to restore the dignity of the hospitals. The aim of these investments in the healthcare system is that the patients perceive public medical institutions as a place where adequate healthcare services are provided.

He further said that there has been a degradation of the health system for a long time, especially in institutional care, which has led to patients’ suffering and dissatisfaction.

The lack of motivation of the medical staff and the lack of medical equipment’s is limiting the potential of doctors to perform their job properly. “Today, we have started with big investments, we are increasing the budget from year to year and we are also urged to see to the increase of salaries of health workers" added Ismaili

The Minister called 2018 an intensive and successful year, stating that public health institutions were more committed to their work and the patients were able to access more quality services.

He expressed the hope that 2019 would be an even more successful year, with more funds available, improved infrastructure, further modernisation and more advanced medical equipment. He also indicated the Ministry’s focus for 2019 will be the implementation of health insurance.

Dardan Parduzi, Head of Contracting Healthcare Services aat KHUCS, presented their results which included investments in new medical infrastructure and equipment that have contributed to improving working conditions for healthcare staff and benefitted patients.

The achievements presented by the Directors of the General Hospital of Prizren and Gjilan included: an increase of own source revenues, a decrease of utility expenses and the provision of new services. Both Directors confirmed the introduction of the following documents within hospital units aimed at the improvement of service provision:

Patient information sheet Standard operating procedures Informed consent form

Among the priorities for the future, the Director of Prizren General Hospital highlighted the construction of the Mother and Child Facility and the provision of Invasive Cardiology, as well as Oncology Services. He further stated the Government’s intention of turning the General Hospital of Prizren into the Second University Clinical Centre in Kosovo.

During the event, the working groups of the Prizren and Gjilan Hospitals also presented brochures that were developed to better inform patients of possible diseases:

Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease Heart failure Ischemic stroke Hernia operation Cholecystectomy operation Appendicitis operation
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