The two representatives from the Albanian and Swiss governments paid a visit at the Department of Public Health, Faculty of Medicine to greet students and lecturers.
“The master’s course we are officially inaugurating today is one of those efforts that promises sustainability. It is the new training ground for future health managers – very much needed in this day and age. The best investments we can make are those in people and human resources – that includes good health education” said Ambassador Ruth Huber, Head of Cooperation with Eastern Europe at the Swiss Ministry for Foreign Affairs.
“As a result of this master’s course, 30 health professionals will be graduated as health managers – the first health managers in Albania. And this is just the beginning. After several years of graduations, Albania health system will benefit a health workforce well trained to manage any health care structure”, added the Swiss official.
In her greeting speech, the Minister of Health and Social Protection Ogerta Manastirliu mentioned the need to have a combination of management and health skills in order to better administer health institutions. “The best investment is surely investment in education to build capacities and develop human resources able to face the challenges of our health sector”, said the Minister during her speech.
The delegation that included the Swiss Ambassador Christoph Graf visited also the premises of the Department of Public Health (Faculty of Medicine) – recently renovated by the Health for All project.
Nearly 51,000 Euro and Swiss expertise were involved to create the right conditions for the new course and to design a curriculum that fits the Albanian health context. The project has provided opportunities to train the lecturers and has equippd the classrooms with computers and software.
The new Master’s programme is designed to produce future managers in the health sector who will be able to increase the efficiency and improve the administration of health institutions. The programme is being run jointly by the Medical University and Tirana University, and at faculty level between the Faculty of Medicine and the Faculty of Economy. Its curriculum is developed by the Department of Public Health and the Department of Management with constant support by Swiss expertise from the Swiss Tropical and Public Health Institute (Swiss TPH).
In recent years, the health sector has received increased support from the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC).
