Skopje, 16 December 2024 (MIA) — The Ministry of Health and the Ministry of Education and Science launched Monday an EU-funded project to improve the medical knowledge and skills of local nurses and midwives, without whom public health care "would fall apart," according to Education Minister Vesna Janevska and Health Minister Arben Taravari speaking at the launch.

"Our country should value their contribution, through competitive salaries and opportunities for professional growth and advancement, so we can keep them here with us. As a doctor, I can confidently say they are a pillar of our health system," Minister Janevska said, adding that the project would also allow nurses and midwives to have their qualifications recognized in the EU.

Janevska said nurses, midwives and medical technicians were essential to the health system, which "would fall apart without their existence." 

"Their professional work is of exceptional importance for the citizens of all countries, including Macedonia. The Ministry of Education and Science is actively involved in this process together with the Ministry of Health so we can achieve the greatest possible success," the education minister said.

In her presentation at the launch, she said over 4,700 students were enrolled in nursing programs in 20 high schools across the country. Of them, 406 were studying to be obstetrics nurses, she said.

Minister of Health Arben Taravari thanked the project's supporters, Slovenia's Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs and the World Health Organization's Skopje office. He said the project would help medical staff nationwide do their jobs better.

Asked by a journalist what the government was doing to address health care workers' leaving the country, Minister Taravari said this was a regional phenomenon. He also said the entire country had a shortage of medical staff, which directors of health institutions in the interior of the country had confirmed to him.

He said he expected that by the end of 2024, job announcements would be posted for more than a thousand medical staff needed in the public health system, including nurses, paramedics and lab assistants.

"There is a shortage everywhere. That is why the government is already taking steps," Taravari said, adding that 300 resident doctors would be hired this year and another 300 resident doctors would be hired in 2025. 

As incentives to stay in the country, the health minister also mentioned new jobs for 1,100 secondary health care workers, collective agreements, and raises.

"This is what a government can do in six months, considering the problems had accumulated since 2017. These are the same problems. Seven years later, we are successfully solving these problems -- in six months," Taravari said. mr/