Former Prime Minister Latifi praises himself after he resigned: We undertook Health Change

He by letter said that the decision was made after “too much reflection” in recent months.

Latif in his letter says that this is the most difficult decision he has ever made.

For every minute of this time, I've had the greatest honour and responsibility anyone can have. Moreover, during this time I have not only done the minister's work, because I've never taken this as a job, but as the greatest passion and responsibility I've ever had”, he wrote.

You're right to ask, what did we do for months? The answer is simple: We started rebuilding and transforming the entire health system at a very difficult time, with very complex circumstances, in a polarised and politicised environment, creating the foundation of modern health, modern hospitals, and staff prepared to deal with any disease and state of health”, he wrote further.

Full letter:

As it has already been known, on October 6, 2022, with deep disappointment and regret after many reflections over the past few months, I resigned from the Ministry of Health, where I served for 10 and a half months as minister. That was the hardest decision I've ever made in my life.

Thank you very much for your continued support, your belief, that we can rebuild, develop, and transform the health of Kosovo.

For every minute of this time, I've had the greatest honor and responsibility anyone can have. Moreover, during this time I have done not only the minister's work, because I have never taken this as a job, but as the greatest passion and responsibility I have ever had.

But, I want to assure you all citizens of Kosovo and all of the Albanian diaspora wherever they live in the world, that although I will no longer be Minister of Health of Kosovo, I will remain its most persistent ambassador for the advancement of Kosovo health, and I will never stop working for Kosovo and for the health of Kosovo and for the recovery and modernisation of this much ignored and vulnerable sector. So it's been since 1985 since I moved to the U.S., and that's how it's going to be until I last breath in this world.

Dear Citizens,

You just ask, what did we do for these months? The answer is simple: We started rebuilding and transforming the entire health system at a very difficult time, with very complex circumstances, in a polarized and politicised environment, creating the foundation of modern health, modern hospitals, and staff prepared to deal with any disease and health.

Let me try to explain the answer to this major question by using the analogy of the trauma surgeon. We save the lives of a seriously injured person by stopping bleeding with surgical interventions (dramaticly balanced), by providing respiratory and oxygen routes, and by providing a lot of blood and blood products.

In reconstruction and transformation of the health care system, we began to use the same approach and metaphor: the prohibition on bloodshed, which in this dispute is the ban on the flow of patients abroad creating our expertise, which is oxygen, without which we can't survive competition, and finally modernising the hospital infrastructure (budget growth), without which we can neither stop blood nor give oxygen.

To accomplish this, we started building human medical and managerial capacities with high international standards and infrastructure through medical diplomacy, which would ensure the well-being of health staff not only with dignified salaries but also with platforms for the entire health framework to reach its entire potential, and to have, as I said, modern hospital infrastructure.

This should be added to the responsibility of each health worker for individual work and performance and much more love for the people and for our beautiful little country, Kosovo. So high expertise and proper infrastructure raises the quality of services, increases responsibility, but also the professional satisfaction of each. Without responsibility and professional pleasure, no human potential is achieved by any of us. It's as simple as that!

In the following pages of this document, you can find a brief review of the findings, challenges faced as well as my achievements in these 10 months as minister of Health, which I think are a good foundation, to build both the capacities and the infrastructure and the well-being of health workers.

Let me thank all the citizens of Kosovo and the Albanian diaspora around the world for their faith, Prime Minister Kurti for the vital opportunity that has given me to help the health of Kosovo, my cabinet that did even the impossible to achieve our goals and realise our plans, friends and colleagues who helped and supported me on this sacred mission, all MPs from the Kosovo Assembly, all political parties, who, with their parliamentary questions in the commissions or in parliament, made me better and helped with my work. And, finally, I thank my family separately the light for their sacrifice, and the support of 100% of my decision to come to Kosovo.

Cards

As I arrived at the head of the Ministry of Health on November 16, 2021, until today I have come to claim:

The lack of basic short-term, medium-term development strategy and lack of capital projects and hospital infrastructure;

Loss of donor confidence;

Destruction of the Post-diplomatic Education System;

The lack of hospital infrastructure and local clinical expertise which, in turn, has the large number of patients treated abroad;

The public's deep lack of trust in Kosovo's public health system, due to lack of expertise, professionalism, poor management and large corruption present in every link to this system;

Health information system loss and

The lack of health insurance system,

Mismanagement of the Health Insurance Fund;

Major manuals in drafting legal acts for the sector for the last six years (Seconal Strategy, Human Resources Strategy, Contagion Plan and Basic Health Laws);

The total lack of managerial skills and leadership of SHSKUK, which is unable to develop this institution;

The lack of administrative professionalism in the Ministry of Health, stretched over the years, which for the result has mismanaged large management and archaic procedures designed to prevent the development of Kosovo's health and dictatorial management of the administration, which has created a toxic atmosphere in relation to my cabinet.

The small budget and total lack of capital projects for 2022 was an example of developmental neglect of health.

Total lack of professional management and implementation teams of capital projects that started in the past

Reaching During These 10 Months

Despite all this, we've come to it for ten months:

Ensure new funding of Lux-Dev of nearly 15m euros (were completely lost) to support hospitals in Gjilan and Prizren, as well as many other clinical centres and ecscent programmes;

Close to 800,000 euros from Italy for equipment of cardiosurgia pediatric surgery,

1,000 euros for expanding telemedicine programme, and

We have provided the possibility of educating our clinical staff in Austria, Switzerland, Greece, Israel and many other countries I am currently working on.

Moreover, we have restored the trust of other donors that the Health Ministry is now in good hands and with clear long-term vision. That's what we did in April 2022. Conference with international donors in Kosovo, while we make the second on November 15, 2022.

Continue the excellent management of COVID-19, despite its complexity,

We've been working on 26 bills, administrative guidelines and concepts.

The MSH pharmaceutical division related to supply from the Essencial List of Bars, where Msh through the pharmaceutical programme makes regular and constant supplies of over 16,500 chronically ill citizens and those for these categories:
Three types of insulin treat 15,231 diabetes citizens
The number of patients treated for Multiple Sclerosis is 427
The number of patients treated for cystic fibrosis is 120
The number of patients treated for Gaucher Syndrome is 10
The Number of Patients Treated by Anti - Medicines TB is 410
The number of patients in ARV therapy is 51
The number of patients in Metado support therapy is 264

As far as the QKMF's supply of drugs from LE and extenuating material is near 70% with drugs, while more than 90% with redeeming materials.

Specifically, the types of drugs that the QKMFs are supplied include all therapeutic groups, such as analgenetic drugs, those for cardiovascular diseases, oral therapy for diabetes, antibiotics, treatment of respiratory lesions, etc.

We have done an analysis of all the major health care system points, through interviews with various actors, a written survey of major clinic directors, and a review of all patients treated outside the public health care system, including the number, diagnosis, treatment and cost outside the country of Kosovo (2019-August 2022), or private hospitals; a review of (many) international consultants' reports on hospital infrastructure; other opinions and materials available to the Ministry of Health of the Republic of Kosovo for infrastructure, occupying beds and hospital capacities that we need, and generally efficient or health care. So, we've identified all the neural points of lack of advanced services that require training abroad.

Use of medical diplomacy. Because, we cannot make the major transformation of Kosovo's health system without partnership with our big friends and partner countries around the world, we have begun using medical diplomacy as a platform. It will be a real partnership built through medical diplomacy and friendship in order for Kosovo to become part of the global medical village. With this health diplomacy, we have saved LuxDev's safe departure from the health field. We have initiated co-operation with many countries and institutions in the United States, Austria, Switzerland, Turkey, Greece, India, Norway, Slovenia, Croatia, Albania, Israel, and other countries.

We've managed to disinclimate our diaspora to help the health of Kosovo with evolutionary programmes, such as diaspora co-operation with the Kosovo Surgeon College and various professional doctors' organisations abroad.

We have joined the clinics of Invasive and non-invasive Cardiology in a clinic, according to international standards, and we have begun the process of creating the Heart Center, and

We have created the 7-pillar platform for drafting the medium- and long-term development and transformation of Kosovo health. Seven main pillars of Kosovo health development

Digitalisation of health care services, including health insurance;

Brain returns and reduced brain drain (we are working on policies involving experts from diaspora to clinical, managerial and management positions throughout the health system; It should be considered creating the package of return for our experts, as Israel and Croatia have done.
Advancing clinical programmes and quality centres through designed and based analysis of the programme for treatment abroad and hospitals and private institutions;

Reforming specialisation and training programmes, adding sub-specialization and international accreditation; (Analysis completed by the American expert, and the UA for post-diplomical schooling is finished);

Advancing research capacities and including medical research personnel and students, specialists in research studies in most major clinical disciplines;

Modernising hospital infrastructure and other health institutions (see capital projects) and increasing the quality of health services, including international, hospital and other institutions.

Decentralisation of the hospital system and reshuffle of KKUK, with regional and local health system strengthening ( Two UAs are under way.

ECCLESENT CENTER AND RELIGION CLNIC AVANS

To carry out the third pillar of Clinical Programs and Excellence Centres, we have created a detailed plan for the 12 centers that include:

Emergency Center, Trauma, and Burning together the entire emergency and trauma system;
(A preliminary assessment was made by a foreign expert (Ruben Peralta), in the third part of November, even an Israeli expert will make the assessment to create integrated system of trauma and emergencies (reprison, hospital, and hospital post). To function the facility of the Emergency and Trauma Centre is becoming an assessment that will be completed on November 15, 2022. This will create a modern hospital facility for treating all acute situations, such as trauma, emergencies and other diseases. Also, sub-specializations for trauma and intensive caution are in the process of parallel planning with this; It's budgeted.

The Oncological Clinical Centre of Kosovo (QKOK) with 10 (ten) departments and 11 pounds) clinical programmes. In the process of finalising the project and strategy that implementation and research of funds from large donors, through medical diplomacy;

The Bio Medical and Scientific Research Institute (Initive funds have been provided by Lux-Dev) that included research departments, Medical Simulation and Technological Education, Laparoscopic Minimal Surgery Laboratory, and

Clinical Guides and Protocols (original funds are provided by Lux-Dev);

Center for Children and Growth With Limited Skills (Autism, Down Syndrome, and

Other Coral Diseases We have a philanthropist willing to build- Halil Kastrati;

The center for addiction rehabilitation (Fillanthropist willing to build- Halil Kastrati);

Regional Center for Training and Management of Disasters and Emergency Trauma (The Project is Written and will be presented to donors as an interstate project);

Enhancing Telemedicine Programme across the country's Regional Hospital and Family Medicine Centers (In finalisation of the project; tools provided);

Consolidation of the Center for Neurosciences (it's budgeted for 2023);

Consolidation of the Heart Centre (just organisational issue);

The Laparoscopic Minimial Invasive Surgery Program in General Surgery, Urology, Gynecology, Paddy and Toracal Surgery;

The Endovascular Surgery Program (It was budgeted for 2023);

The programme for kidney and tissue transplantation (a training site is provided at the University of Thessaloniki, Greece; Second Graz option, Austria);

To manage the aforementioned centers and programs, and after deep analysis made the entire post-diplomatic educational system and clinical needs, we have created the platform for advanced clinical sub-servation.

For this, we designed sub-specializations in 22 clinical disciplines (with 2-12 people in different fields), where they will be trained during 2022-2024, about 100 doctors and surgeons in the world's best-known international centres.

Capital projects in the budget for 2022-2025:

Over the past 10 months, we've been operating or starting work on some of the capital projects as follows:

The clinical inauguration of the KKUK Children's Hospital (It's March 28th 2022);
New vaccine department: Inauguration Becomes Soon

Emergency and Trauma Center, and the Center for Burnings and Wounds together the entire trauma system; In the process of assessing the physical state, design, real cost definition. The ongoing feasibility studies. It has been budgeted in part for the next three years. An external donor is needed.

The Oncological Clinical Centre of Kosovo (QKOK) with 10 (ten) departments and 11 (11) clinical programmes. In the process of finalising the project and implementation strategy and researching funds from large donors, through medical diplomacy;

Reassessing the current situation of the pediatric ward building at the Mitrovica Hospital to pave the way for jobs to run it; (An assessment of the current situation, ongoing budgeting)

The physical infrastructure assessment of the Neuropsikiatria Clinic, which will cost 3m euros; (Not budgeted yet)

Initializing jobs to functioning the empty building of the Trauma and Emergency Center; (In the process of revaluation and budgeting)

The draft proposal for modernisation of Vascular Surgery and Neurokirgy; (Budget for 2023)

Analysis for completion of Ferizaj Hospital; (In anticipation of the assessment of the building by the faculty of construction);

Preparation for opening the Podujevo Hospital (Inauguration will take place this year);

The start of preparations for Pristina Hospital in co-operation with the Pristina municipality; (In discussions at the Executive Commission)

Revaluation and update the IBIF project for all hospital infrastructure (in the process of update);

The draft proposal for expanding Telemedicine throughout the country's Regional Hospital and Family Medicine Centres (In finalisation of the project);

The draft proposal for the Bio Medical Institute (original funds provided);

Projectproposal for the Center of autism, the Doa Syndrome and the Rare Diseases (The Project at the End)

Great projects seeking to be assessed and budgeted:

Pulmology Clinic

Central Barnator building.