Ismaili calls for state accountability over medicines, Vitia says: I am not a police officer, prosecutor or judge

Kosovo’s Assembly is holding an interpellation today, November 12, with Health Minister Arben Vitia over the death of a breast cancer patient who had gone four months without treatment, as well as the shortage of oncology drugs.

During the session, Uran Ismaili, an MP from the Democratic Party of Kosovo, raised concerns about medicine shortages and difficulties supplying healthcare institutions. He called for the discussion to focus on patients and the responsibility of institutions, KosovaPress reports.

Ismaili said some patients had not received the medicines they need to treat their illnesses. Providing those medicines is the responsibility of institutions, he said, and should not be treated as a party-political issue.

The PDK lawmaker criticized political clashes over medicine supplies, saying they distract from the main problem: the difficulties patients and their families face in obtaining treatment. He also called for reflection on the causes and responsibilities in cases where citizens lose their lives and medicine shortages are raised as a concern.

Ismaili emphasized that the state covers part of the cost of healthcare services, while citizens themselves pay another substantial share.

In response, Minister Vitia said healthcare in Kosovo has improved and that progress will continue. He said it was not his role to do the work of investigative or judicial authorities, and that the relevant law enforcement institutions should handle the matter.

According to Vitia, this is a unique case: the audit was initiated by the Ministry of Health, and the Board found the data. The minister said he was neither a police officer, a prosecutor nor a judge, and could not physically confront the people in question without the force of the law. The matter is now being handled through the legal system, he added.