Reporting on essential medicines and patient waiting lists sparks clash between government and opposition in Health Committee

The director of the University Hospital and Clinical Service of Kosovo (SHSKUK) and Health Minister Arben Vitia must submit written reports to the Health Committee within 2 weeks on supplies of medicines on the essential medicines list and patient waiting lists. The request was approved at Tuesday’s meeting. After the documents have been reviewed, both are expected to be invited to report to the committee in December.

Debate over the request sparked disagreements between government and opposition representatives. Committee chair Uran Ismaili insisted that healthcare institutions be held accountable within the specified deadlines, while Vetëvendosje Movement MP Egzon Azemi described his stance as politicizing the discussion.

According to Ismaili, the requested reports relate to organizing the committee’s work for the final two months of the year and would help provide a clearer understanding of the situation in healthcare.

He explained that the time remaining for activities was limited, as scheduled commitments in December end before the month is over. For this reason, the committee had aimed to hold several activities in November and December and use one session to plan for the coming year. In this context, written reports on waiting lists at SHSKUK clinics and essential medicines would allow the director and minister to report to the committee in December, before the end of the year.

Addressing committee members, Ismaili called for resolve in enforcing the deadlines. He described preparing these reports as extremely easy and expressed concern that divisions between the government and opposition could provide political cover for disregarding the committee’s requests.

Ismaili stressed that the committee should not become a forum for passing responsibility from one side to the other. He said citizens continually seek information on essential medicines and patient waiting lists, so institutions have a duty to submit the reports as soon as possible, within the two-week deadline.

Azemi objected to this approach to the issue. He said that although meetings begin with a pledge not to engage in politics, discussions end up taking the same approach again, adding that he understood the position of the opposition parties.

The Vetëvendosje MP reminded Ismaili that he had served as health minister. According to Azemi, the system had not been thriving when it was inherited, only to deteriorate overnight; its problems were well known, and its condition was far from ideal. He called for greater honesty in the debate.

In response, Ismaili rejected the claim that he was acting with political motives. He emphasized that his request was limited to having the health minister and the SHSKUK director report on issues directly affecting citizens.

Clarifying his position, Ismaili said he had not asked for Albin Kurti, Xhelal Sveçla or Donika Gërvalla to be summoned over Arlinda’s death, which he said could have been considered a departure from the topic. He called it entirely wrong to interpret the request to hear from the minister and director as a political act and denied any such intent.

Alliance MP Albana Bytyqi also joined the discussion, challenging claims that the healthcare situation was improving. To illustrate her concern, she showed members photographs of a man from Peja whom she said she had met personally.

According to Bytyqi, the man lives in Prishtina without a home, food or care. She raised concerns that he was being neglected by the University Clinical Center of Kosovo (QKUK) and was facing dire living conditions and a lack of healthcare. The MP said that listening to discussions about healthcare gave her the impression that people were talking about a different country, calling claims of improvement into question.

Azemi responded that he had neither offered praise nor said that healthcare was in good shape. He clarified that he had merely noted that the situation had been difficult and remained so, with inherited problems that persisted.

Objecting to the use of individual cases in political clashes, he said that he too had been in opposition but had not acted in this way. He said the first step a committee member should take in such a case was to contact the health inspectorate. Azemi added that action must, of course, be taken.