Skopje, 15 June 2025 (MIA) - New Health Minister Azir Aliu said at a press conference Sunday he would work towards a healthcare system based on five pillars that will transform it into a fairer and more efficient service for the citizens.

Aliu said he would focus on several key issues – the implementation of the 2024-2028 program, resolving accumulated issues from previous years, and establishing a new culture of strategic and long-term planning within the Ministry, with an emphasis on the national strategies as essential documents with the goal, he said, to build a stable, politically independent healthcare system.

“We will build develop a map of healthcare needs by regions and municipalities which will indicate where there is a lack of medical staff, equipment or functioning centers. The second pillar – transparency and accountability in healthcare – includes creating a platform to monitor the performance of the healthcare system. Every citizen will have the opportunity to see where treatment is faster, where results are best, and where improvement is needed. The third pillar is professional development and strengthening of human resources. We will work daily to enhance the training of doctors and nurses and clearly distinguish clinical from managerial services. The fourth pillar is sustainable financing and a focus on prevention – we will abandon blind financing, hospitals will be supported based on the population they serve and the results they achieve, which will be monitored in real time. And finally, digitization, which involves integration with the EU healthcare system,” Aliu said.

The Minister said the fifth pillar – digitization – is a central and very important pillar and at the heart of all changes.

“We are building an entire system of electronic healthcare, including electronic healthcare card, digital prescriptions as well as platforms for efficient connection between the patients and doctors,” Aliu said.

The Health Minister said Kochani will be at the focus of his work, adding he would meet Monday with the head of the hospital in Kochani, as well as with the citizens of Kochani in the coming days to determine their real needs.

Aliu served as Minister of Information Society and Administration in 2023 and 2024. He is a member of a faction of the Alliance for Albanians, which remained in the Vlen coalition after previous health minister and party leader Arben Taravari left the Government on May 15.

Photo: Screenshot