Albania is ranked the last among 35 countries of Europe in Euro Health Consumer Index 2018 measured by the Swedish Institute of Health Consumer Powerhouese. Compared to the previous year's publication, Albania has deteriorated with three places, dropping the last. In the 2017 index, Romania, Montenegro and Bulgaria were worse than Albania.
The index is a way to measure to what extent each of the 35 countries meets the expectations of a good and customer-oriented health.The report states that Albania has very limited sources of health care. The Albanian health ministry's explanation for the low level of healthcare use is related to the fact that the "Albanians go to the doctor only when they have problems". But, according to the report, this is a mere simplification of the situation; the Albanians visit their principal doctor more than twice as much as Swedes (3.9 visits a year vs. 1.7)!
Unlike Albania, other Balkan countries have made progress towards improving the consumers health. Serbia continues to rank higher, holding the 18th place as a result of improving the waiting time situation and due to significant investments in scanners and the implementation of electronic prescriptions.
Montenegro has also improved its ranking, climbing the 23th place, having the most significant reduction in infant deaths in the east.
The index consists of 6 sub-disciplines: patient rights and information; access (waiting time for treatment); result; type and access to services; prevention; pharmaceutical products.
According to the report, Albania gets the lowest scores in Europe at patient rights and information (67 points), in the prevention with 71 points, pharmaceutical products with 33 points, type and access to services with 42 points, the latest in Europe. Albania is presented better at the waiting time for treatment. In total, Albania gets 544 points.
According to the graphs presented in the report, Albania has the lowest per capita spending on health care, measured in terms of purchasing power parity. Another indicator were Albania is the last, is the number of doctors per 100 thousand inhabitants. Albanian patients do not have access to their medical records, nor do they interact with the doctor through the phone or the internet, but are physically present themselves to the nearest hospital.
Our country is among the latest in Europe relating to the access to cancer treatment, leaving behind only Hungary.
Albania has the highest infant mortality rate in Europe, with 12 deaths per 1,000 births.
The country is the third in Europe for the low survival rate of cancer, along with Poland and Romania, with a rate ranging between 40-50%, from almost 70% to Switzerland, the country with the highest survival rate.
Albania ranks second in Europe and the highest rate of suicide, with 0.05 per 100 thousand inhabitants, after Cyprus. We are the last in Europe in kidney transplants as well as in the health care for the elderly over 65 (no homes for the elderly or beds for them).
For accidents, we are ranked second in Europe after Romania.
An indicator where we are positive is the percentage of the vaccine coverage for eight diseases, where Albania ranks second after Hungary. Even for the level of alcohol consumption, we have the lowest in Europe.
Switzerland leads Europe
The best health service in Europe is that of Switzerland, passing the Netherlands. Switzerland has a nearly-perfect health system due to the huge investments in this area. The second is the Netherlands, followed by Norway, which has the highest spending per capita on health care. The ten is continued by Denmark, Belgium, Finland, Luxembourg, Sweden, Austria, Iceland.
In South East Europe, Italy and Spain provide health services where the medical excellence can be found in many cities.