Albanian and Serb citizens of the villages of Gadish, Kishnapolë, Verbicë e Zhegovcit, Pidiq, Llashticë, Dazhnicë, Makresh and Parallovë, of the Gjilan Municipality recently had the opportunity to do medical examinations, free of charge.

125 field visits were undertaken by Psychotherapists in Action (PEA), a Kosovo Women’s Network (KWN) member organization, under the framework of the initiative “Advancing Palliative Care in Kosovo and Raising Public Awareness about People with Special Needs.”

A total of 158 people benefited directly from these medical visits. Some of these citizens discovered that they were suffering from ailments they had never known about. Whereas, a total of 500 other people benefited indirectly through advice and guidance.

“I am very happy that we are benefiting from this initiative. At first, I thought that I did not have any health problems, so I have never been to a doctor before. But, after visits and consultations by PEA we saw that more extensive medical check-ups should be done at Main Family Medicine Centre (MFMC), where then I started to be treated,” Those are the words of a man from Pidiq village, whose family was visited by Dr. Ramize Ahmeti-Ibrahimi and the medical team.

The PEA, in addition to citizens, acknowledged the benefits stemming from this initiative. 

“This initiative, which included medical visits at home, was very welcomed by four our organization. Thanks to these examinations required we have found had cases of when diabetes that had not has been detected before. Also, we were able to benefit many poor families benefited from this initiative.” said Sevdije Musliu, Executive Director, PEA.

During visits, various different health problems were uncovered discovered, such as; high blood pressure, diabetes, cough or cold, infertility, lethargy, urinary tract infections, nervous disorders, and epilepsy.    

 In order to collect the impressions of citizens, 60 anonymous questionnaires, as well as round table discussions were conducted. These were the recommendations suggested:

Recommendations are as following:

• Healthcare providers are key in identifying the needs of the individual and family as well,
• Teamwork between families, doctors and nurses need to increase in order to improve the quality of health services,
• To continuously monitor the health promotion, education, treatment and counselling of families, 
• To inform families of the purpose of medical examinations and the role of the medical team. Informing should be done through media, schools, mosques, in order to reach a more people,
• To be where the individual and the family need treatment and support with a single goal in mind “family, without illness.”

The above recommendations have been submitted to the Ministry of Health (MH), which has pledged to review them when drafting advocacy and legislation for the revival of palliative care.

The activities undertaken as part of this initiative have contributed to the implementation of the KWN Strategy 2019-2022, respectively in the section “Women’s Rights in Health Care”.