ALBANIAN MEDICAL INSTITUTES, PUBLIC HEALTH AND SOCIAL SECURITY MEASURES

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP80-00809A000700180329-6
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: C
• Document Page Count: 10
• Document Creation Date: December 22, 2016
• Document Release Date: September 6, 2011
• Sequence Number: 329
• Publication Date: May 26, 1954
• Content Type: REPORT

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CLASSIFICATION CONFIDENTIAL
CENTRAL INTELLIGENCE AGENCY REPORT
INFORMATION FROM
FOREIGN DOCUMENTS OR RADIO BROADCASTS CD NO.
COUNTRY Albania
SUBJECT
HOW
DATE OF
~ INFORMATION 1953
Sociological - Medical institutions
disease control, social security, welfaree,
PUBLISHED Daily newspapers
WHERE
PUBLISHED Tirana
DATE
PUBLISHED 14 Jun-23 Oct 1953
LANGUAGE Albanian
DATE DIST. -~b May 1954
NO. OF PAGES /?
SUPPLEMENT TO
REPORT NO.
THIS IS UNEVALUATED INFORMATION
ALBANIAN MEDICAL INSTITUTES PUBLIC HEALTH
AND SOCIAL SECURITY MEASURES-'
(Sun.mary: The following report presents information on "banian
medical institutions, including schools, a laboratory, and hospitals
and dispensaries; the League of Albanian Doctors; medical conferences;
measures for control of disease; and social welfare.
The new Higher Medical Institute and the recently organized League
of Albanian Doctors are expected to increase the number of trained per-
sonnel and improve the means of combating disease. The Pharmaceutical
Laboratory '.s producing a number of drugs, previously imported, from
domestic herbs. Progress is noted in combating malaria, especially in
Berat and Shkoder qarks, and vaccination is in use for typhus and diph-
theria. Larger funds are allotted to welfare, especially for mothers
of large families and for workers' rest homes. Rest homes are highly
praised, but administration of funds for workers' pensions and mothers'
bonuses is termed bureaucratic.
Numbersin parentheses refer to appended sources.]
Schools
The Higher Medical Institute of Tirana (Institut to larte to mjeksise)
opened on 1 October 1952. The director is A. Bozo, and the assistant direc-
tor is Professor Anikin, former dean of the First Moscow Medical Institute.
Professor Anikin was in charge of installing modern equipment supplied by the
USSR for the biology, histology, chemistry, and anatomy laboratories. Latora-
tory students are divided into groups of 12, so that they may have practical
as well as theoretical training.
STATE
ARMY
NAVY
Aln
NSRB
FBI
DISTRIBUTION
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The anatomy laboratory is equipped with skeletons and casts to illustrate
the lectures. Before examinations, small groups work in the anatomy laboratory
under a professor. As a result of this system,more than half the students' pa-
pers have been marked excellent.
Students of histology are provided with microscopes. They also have casts
showing the development of the embryo. Anikin himself is the lecturer.
The same system is employed in the other laboratories. Marxist-Leninist.
ideology is taught in seminars, where students take part in discussions. Prep-
arat ion or examinations is given by Prof Anastasi Papa to groups of three cr
+ nur students. Division of students into these small ;_roups facilitates criti-
cism and self-criticism.(1)
Students at the Medical Polytechnic Sch .,l (Fooliteknikum Mjeksor), the
Higher Medical Institute, and the Midwives School (Shkolle se Mamive) are tak-
ing their June examinations. Examinations at the Medical Polytechnic School
are being giver, to 271, students, 40 o, whom are taking examinations for the
degree of assistant doctor. In 1953-1954, the school will train dentists and
pharmacists as well as assistant doctors. About 160 students are already reg-
istered.
Examinations _Jr the 2-year course at the Midwives School show excellent
results. The school expects 40 more students in the coming year.
The Higher Medical Institute plans to graduate doctors in 5 years. This
June, 54 students are taking examinations.
In addition, a nur
in 1953-1954.(2) sing school is training, 240 nurses, and expects 200 more
Laboratory
In 1943, the State iharraceutical Lah;r?ut:ry (Laboratori Farmeceutik i
Shtatit) produced 30 preparations in lir...tc?c at.om;t.:n In October 19e3i is
producing 160 preparations, and 42 Lunen ti:c l:revi quantity. N,cr thait than 20
of these products were previously irport_d. 'Ti.e arc now rarufactured from
domestic produce, thus saving more than .;;:u million nks.. in foreign exchange.
Among the most important products are the !'oLo.;i:,g; Sirmius Skolymus, an ex-
tract of artichokes (Cybara skolynus) used jr fliver, trouble; Urtika, an ex-
tract of nettles (urtica), used for 1.en.orrha;;e and labor i.ains; liver extract
from calves' liver for anemia; gentian extract, .:sed to aid di,..;estion; and many
tinctures for dyspepsia, heart disease, and debility.
New apparatus from the USSR and the itople'a Democracies is stimulating
the growth of the laboratory and the improvement ,;' technical gerson.nel. In
1943, the total staff of the laboratory consisted of seven more or less qual-
ified technicians. Now it consists of seven r.ighly qualified technicians,
trained in the USSR and the Icou1_';; Democracies, and cozens of laboratory
workers with one year's special training at the laboratory. The government
is investing a million leks in the laboratory. A special building with all
necessary equipment is to be built soon in Tirana.(3)
Hospitals, Dispensaries
The 1953 budget allocates 607 million leks, or 40 percent more than in 1938,
for public health. Much of this sum is to be invested in new health institu-
tions. A 10-million-lek, 220-bed hospital in Durres and a 5-million-lek, 75-bed
hospital in Peshkopi are under construction. The capacity of the Puke and Erseke
hospitals is to be increased. At the end of 1953, there will be 49 hospitals in
Albania -- six times the number in 1939
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Two new 40-bed hospitals will be built, one at the Cerrik Refinery and one
at the Stalin Textile Combine. A surgical department will be added to the Kukes
Hospital. By the end of 1953, construction work will be finished on 11 dental
clinics, 2 antituberculosis clinicr. 4 infirmaries, and 43 mobile clinics for
medical treatment and control of venereal iisease. During the same period, 9
day nurseries with a total of 510 beds, and 17 maternity homes with [a total of?]
121 beds are to be built. At present, there are 115 maternity homes where 40
percent of the pregnant women in Albania lie in.(4)
di In Elbasan Qark, three new dispensaries are to be opened, and additional
dispensaries will soon be in operation in Hotolishte and Selite to Mollasit.
By the end of 1953, Elbasan Qark will have 15 dispensaries, j hospitals, and 4
maternity homes. Gostime Rreth already has a hospital, a paternity home, and
nine dispensaries. By the end of the Five-Y _ar Man, there will be health in-
stitutes in four villages. In addition, public health units :ften make rounds
in villages to oversee the health and hygiene of the peasants and to educate
then in sanitation. One such unit left dibasan on 20 October to visit all vil-
lages and institutes in Gramsh Rreth.(5)
In early August, 14 units comprising, doctors, :nurses, dentists, and pharma-
cists, with medical supplies, traveled around Gjinokaster Rreth, GJinokaster Qark,
to aid the peasants. The doctors made more than 700 visits and gave advice on
prevention of disease in the villages.(o)
Peshkopi Rreth, Diber Qark, has 21 dispensaries, j maternity homes, 2 hos-
pitals, and a dental clinic. A new hospital is to be built in the city of Pesh-
kopi during 1953. A number of young people of Peshkopi Rreth are studying at
Albanian medical schools; others are attendiu,; schools in the USSR and the Peo-
ple's Democracies.(7)
Mjede Lokalitet, Shkoder Qark, has three dispensaries. In addition, the
village of Mazrek recently installed a row dispensary. A four-bed maternity
home has been in operation in the lokalitet since 1952. Irurses in the lokalitet
give talks on hygiene to the peasants-(L) Tire village of Barbullush, Shkoder
Qark, has a maternity home.(9)
Criticism
In July 1953, an inspection cf the G.;inokastor Msternit1 Home showed
that it set an example in cleanliness and care o: patients. Dori.ng an inter-
view, a patient of the extrapulmonary [tubercuiosisj hospital in Vlore highly
praised the hospital for its care of the slot.
Recent inspections disL.losed many defects in some hospitals. In one hos-
pital in Durres, for example, the Inspectors found that the walls had not been
painted for a long time. M.reover, as there were no screens in the windows,
flies and mosquitoes were io.me:rous.
In a hospital in Peshkopi Rreth, tell patients received ;o treatment
after they were X-rayed. Nurses were found to bo negligent in sterilizing
needles.
On 2 July, a woman diagnosed as a paratyphoid case was sent to the
Tirana Civilian Hospital. Her room had no windows. The bed had ,;o ci,;ets.
There was no organized care for patients. The woman was examined five times
in 11 days, because records were not properly kept.
Criticisms of hospital treatment often appear in workers' letters to the
newspapers, but the Ministry of Public Health is too bureaucratic to ne:a the
voice of the people or to take measures, in the proper spirit of self-criticism,
to redress these fauits.(l0)
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The most serious forms of tuberculosis are treated at the Sarande Tu-
berculosis Sanatorium in Sarande. Much good work is done there, but many de-
fects have been noted.
Proper care is not taken of patients. The doctors do not provide neces-
sary services. For example, Vasil Kosta, the head intern, dresses wounds irregu-
larly and disregards all regulations of hygiene and medicine. When lie makes the
rounds with the doctor, he boils the instruments, but when the doctor is absent,
he may use the sare unsterilized instruments on t or three patients. He is
arrogant with the patients and mistreats those who criticize him. His treatment
of the sick forces them to try to leave before they are cured.
Nurses and orderlies luck any sense of responsibility. They do not
follow the prescribed therapy regularly. For example, they may give patients
six aspirins within a short time instead of the prescribed dose of sulfaguani-
dine. Dishes are washed in laundry tubs without disinfection.
tion, the There
inspection committeeoof mtne rreth5executive 'comuni~ttee discovered that
the sanatorium had on hand 50 kilograms of bread more than the required amount.
The administration of the sanatorium is negligent and does not attempt to remedy
defects. Mitat Muratl, the administration head, does ;ot require strict account-
ing. M::reover, his orders are _efton counterrmi;ded by
the ;,ead intern's assist-
ant.
Responsibility for this alarming state of affairs rests on the party
executive committee of the rreth and its public health sections. The committee
claims that it 1s not responsible because the sanatoriuun is directly subordinate
to the Ministry of Public Health, but the sanatorium is actually under rreth
Jurisdiction. Some of the personnel blame the situation on a lack of technical
directors, but the real cause is the lack of personal responsibility, discipline,
accountancy, and healthy criticism and self'-criticism.(11)
Improvements in the General M'litar Hi rital at Tirana
(The following article by Lt Col Dr S. _,nun appeared in the 30 Septem-
ber 1953 issue of Teri i Ponullit.J
With Soviet aid, Albanian iaborotories f health i.cstitutes, hospitals,
sanatoriums, and polyclinics have been well suf.plied with modern equipment.
Soviet doctors are working with Albanian doctor in medici)c, surgery, and pro-
phylaxis in these institutions.
Soviet methods, based on Pavlov's doctrines, permit surgical inter-
vention which was previously impossible. These methods make it possible, also,
to cure skin diseases previously considered difficult or impossible to cure.
Since 1948, the General Military Hospital has used the Fflatov method
with good results in such diseases as Psoriasis, chronic .,azema, trophic ulcer,
bronchial asthma, anu uodenal ulcer.
L: 1950, the hospital adopted the Soviet method of a single operation
for pulmonary echinococcosis. This method makes surgical operations on the chest
possible without danger of complications, such as empyema, and reduces hospital-
ization time. The patient leaves the hospital in 15-20 days. The operation is
used in many types of cases; for example, in the removal of bits of metal from
wounds.
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Vishnevskiy's blockade is successfully used in trauma and sthenic
ileus. Acute peritonitis is now cured by the Petrov method of "suspended"
ileoston (ileostomise to suspendume) [sic].
Blood transfusion is now widely used, and the staff has learned how to
preserve blood.(12)
Soviet Methods in the Tirana Civilian Hospital
Soviet doctors began working in Albania in 1947. The USSR has sup-
plied and continues to supply material aid, including high-quality Soviet medi-
cines. Many departments in the Tirana Civilian Hospital, including those of
pediatrics, surgery, contagious diseases, and psychiatry, are organized on the
Soviet plan.
Among the Soviet methods in use is the treatment of acute peritonitis
and "leus" [ileus] by suspended enterostomy (e suspenduar) (sic]. The treat-
ment is 90 percent successful.
Until 1951, cases of pulmonary and hepatic echinococcosis required
two operations. Now such cases require only one thoracotomy. About 40 such
operations have been successfully performed. In the past, prostatectonty also
required two operations, but now requires only ore.
Vishnevskiy's novocain block is now successfully used in cases of
arthritis and endarteritis obliterans. Since 1952, the Khaneticha treatment
for burns has given excellent results.
The hospital now has a blood bai,k, organized by Soviet doctors. Soviet
doctors Gamov, Boreko, and Regova aid in the surgical department. Professor
Nikulchin performed the first brain operation in Albania.
The Filatov method is us