Premier Berisha attended last week the opening ceremony of Albanian Telemedicine Center. Also present at the activity were U.S. Ambassador to Tirana, Alexander Arvizu, Minister of Health, Petrit Vasili, Director of ‘Mother Teresa’ University Hospital Center (QSUT), Saimir Ivziku, representatives of USAID, who have supported this project, physicians, etc.
The Network of the Integrated Telemedicine and e-Health Program in Albania includes the Albanian Telemedicine Center at QSUT in Tirana and some Regional Telemedicine Centers in the regional hospitals of Kukes, Shkodra, Durres, Korça, Vlora, etc. Likewise, this Center enables consultancies with physicians and medical centers abroad. The first services at QSUT have created a partnerships and tele-consultancies with famous hospitals and institutes in Europe and USA.
Symbolically, during the inauguration of this center was realized the first telemedicine connection (through tele-presence) with Professor Rifat Latifi, Director of the Project, founder and President of International Virtual e-Hospital Foundation, who was on a mission in Arizona.
Premier Berisha and the participants visited also the e-library, which was part of the project.
In his address on the occasion, Prime Minister Berisha said:
“Today, we are experiencing one of the greatest events in the history of our health system, our hospital system. Therefore, on this occasion, I would like to express my deepest gratitude to Government of United States of America, USAID, Professor Charles Doarn, Professor Rifat Latifi, and all of those who helped in turning such project into reality. This project was implemented in a record time and is present in 6 Albanian regions and will be soon expanded in other 6 regions. This project connects Korça to John Hopkins, one of the world medicine centers and connects Kukes with Baltimore, and will offer the patients the most qualified opinion of the time.
But, this is only one aspect. The other aspect will be the extraordinary influence of telemedicine in continuous professional training of our doctors.
I would like to express deepest gratitude to USAID, which in the last 19 years has realized hundred of projects in all fields and has turned them into real histories of success. Ambassador Arvizu mentioned several projects applied in the health system from ‘92 until today, I would like to point to some projects implemented by USAID since 2007. Those projects have transformed this country to the best. In this respect, I would like to mention the e-procurements project, thanks to which Albania received also the Prize of Transparency by United Nations Organization, e-tax project, ‘one stop shop’ project, which ranks Albania among the first 10 countries for business registration. Meanwhile, the telemedicine project enters a new chapter in the diagnostication, creation and communication of our health system.
Government will do the utmost to apply the most modern digital basis in our health system. E-health will be the major project of the next two years. The project aims at considerably improving our health system in general, as well as to establish it on new management basis. The history of success is closely connected to history of management. Therefore, we are giving it a great importance.
Once again, I thank you for this excellent gift to the Albanians patients. I would also like to thank the U.S. army, an excellent army, which beside its support to Albanian army has been constantly engaged in the recent years also in projects in health system.
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Quelle/Source: emg.rs, 03.10.2011
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