When it comes to the right to health, Albania is achieving 66.3% of what it should based on its income level, according to the Human Rights Measurement Initiative. This estimate measures preventative and reproductive health care, health rehabilitation, the right to health for children and adults and disease control. As for the latter category, several diseases are impacting Albania.

Top Causes of Death in Albania

The World Health Organization (WHO) finds that from its 2.9 million population, these are the most prominent causes of death per 100,000 people in Albania as of 2019:

• Stroke (378 deaths in women and 235 in men)
• Ischaemic heart disease (338 deaths in women and 274 in men)
• Alzheimer’s disease and other dementias (93 deaths in women and 34 in men)
• Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (17 deaths in women and 33 in men)
• Lower respiratory infections (24 deaths in women and 20 in men).

All the current deadliest diseases impacting Albania fall under the non-communicable category. However, a 2011 study also found a 19% prevalence of intestinal parasitic infections (IPI) among Albanian children. Though not as impactful to the overall population as their non-communicable counterparts, it is worth noting that infectious diseases are a category Albanians are susceptible to as well.

One of the most prominent communicable diseases impacting Albania is HIV, a viral sexually transmitted disease that leads to AIDS. According to the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS), the number of Albanian adults and children living with HIV as of 2022 was approximately 1500. Of this estimate, less than 500 were women aged 15 and above and 1000 were men of the same demographic. That same year, less than 100 Albanian adults died and less than 500 children from 0 to 17 became orphans due to AIDS.

The Good News

Despite statistics depicting that the government needs even further work to address the rate of diseases impacting Albania, the country has seen significant improvements in the health department. The life expectancy at birth in Albania as of 2021 is 76, a 2.5-year improvement from what it was in 2000. Similarly, the percentage of children under a year old receiving the measles vaccine is 86 and the total population receiving all eight basic vaccines is 75.

Initiatives and Solutions

Even with the substantial estimate of Albanian adults and children living with HIV, 31.72% of young people aged 15 to 24 are knowledgeable about HIV prevention. The coverage of adults and children receiving antiretroviral therapy is even higher, estimated at 57%.

The organization Aksion Plus takes credit for this step. Founded in 1992, Aksion Plus is a volunteer group that aims to stop the spread of HIV/AIDS in Albania through four main objectives:

• Raising awareness through peer education: A team of social workers provides educational tools and counseling in high schools about HIV/AIDS prevention and reproductive health.
• Advocacy: Aksion Plus uses advocacy and capacity building to influence policymakers on HIV/AIDS, as well as deliver training sessions to teachers, students, police officers, health practitioners and caregivers.
• Research: Cooperation with organizations like UNICEF, WHO and the Institute of Public Health enables the foundation to research and evaluate HIV/AIDS statistics in Albania.
• Treatment for vulnerable groups: Aksion Plus implements several programs to provide treatment to drug users or sex workers. Such programs include “The Center for Harm Reduction and Resource Center,” which focuses on harm reduction, advocacy and promoting healthy lifestyle education for drug users.

With the support of WHO, Albania also established a cross-sector national program on the prevention and control of non-communicable diseases (NCDs). Since its development in 2017, the program has aimed to reduce health inequalities, introduce NCD prevention programs and implement health care to maximize population coverage.

Health for All Program

Another program that tackles the NCD burden in Albania is the “Health for All Program” (HAP). In addition to assisting with the development of the “National Health Promotion Action Plan,” HAP has also helped support health literacy and promotion in the country through a variety of approaches:

• Media campaigns: A November 2017 campaign on diabetes awareness accumulated 88,000 viewers.
• Health promotion in schools: More than 600 children, their parents and 57 teachers participated in the “Health Promoting Schools” initiative, which provides guidance and information on sports and healthy eating in schools. The initiative also hosted nutrition fairs in Dibër.
• Hypertension awareness and control: In 2018, HAP partnered with local health centers to provide educational presentations on hypertension risk factors and blood pressure screenings to several municipalities and the cities of Tirana and Durrës. The attendance estimate was 7,058 community members.

Such statistics highlight the meaningful progress the government and NGOs have made in addressing and combating the rate of communicable and non-communicable diseases impacting Albania.

– Jay Kosumi
Photo: Flickr