Filipçe Accuses Government: Healthcare System Heading for Collapse, Citizens Left Unprotected

LSDM leader Venko Filipçe said at today’s press conference that the country’s healthcare system has been driven toward collapse. According to him, the government led by Hristijan Mickoski is failing to fulfill the state’s fundamental duty to protect citizens’ health.

Filipçe said the incident in Gostivar could not be treated as an isolated case because, in his view, it points to systemic problems, inefficiency and dysfunction. He accused Hristijan Mickoski and his team of destroying the country’s healthcare system.

According to the LSDM leader, serious problems in healthcare include medicine shortages, delays in receiving treatment, long waiting lists, non-operational operating rooms, staff shortages and the improper administration of public healthcare institutions.

He said the primary function of healthcare—protecting citizens’ health—has already been significantly compromised.

Filipçe said patients are waiting for months for surgical procedures because of insufficient staff and infrastructure. He added that a large number of operating rooms at several of the main public healthcare institutions have long been non-operational.

According to him, the highest-level public healthcare institutions are being managed with insufficient staff. He also said that dozens of university clinics where interns and students are trained are not led by academic and scientific staff, but by doctors who are not lecturers.

According to Filipçe, the condition of equipment, hygiene standards, staff shortages and long waiting times are also causing serious problems throughout the healthcare system.

The LSDM leader also raised concerns about the Health Insurance Fund, one of the system’s most important institutions. He stressed that people without the relevant professional qualifications have been appointed to positions at the institution./Telegrafi/