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Home , Healthcare in Kosovo

KOSOVO – AFTER CONFLICT, IMPROVING CARE

THE WDF’S FIRST PROJECT IN EUROPE WAS IN . SEVEN YEARS AND THREE PROJECTS LATER, PEOPLE WITH DIABETES IN THIS WAR-TORN ARE RECEIVING BETTER CARE. A undergoes a monofilament test at the Diabetes Centre in .

For Nurse Yllka Vejsa and her colleagues at the “Due to the political and economic circumstances, awareness and promote the importance of diabetes,” says Diabetes Education Centre in Gjakova, Kosovo, diabetes healthcare for people with diabetes in Kosovo has lacked This pioneering project established six regional centres Dr Gola. “By bringing together patient, professional and complications are an all-too-common sight: “We see crucial elements such as proper education, diagnosis, for education, and treatment of diabetes at nurse associations, journalists and representatives of the between 3,700-4,200 diabetes each year and treatment, foot care, diet, statistical data etc, for more than the primary healthcare level and two centres for podiatry Parliamentary Commission for we aim to establish almost half have one or more complication such as 20 years.” treatment at the secondary care level in regional hospitals. a national coalition against diabetes.” retinopathy, heart and kidney problems, or ulcerated feet,” she says. Prolonged stress during the conflict, post-conflict lifestyle Coalition against diabetes Successes and high hopes changes – including what Dr Gola calls “Coca-Cola This is the result of the risk factors that residents of this colonisation” – and low awareness of diabetes among the But Dr Gola and his team didn’t stop there. “The good A good team with a strong network has been key to the small, new nation, may experience every day, including population and primary care doctors have increased the news is that diabetes is preventable,” points out Dr Gola. success of the projects, says Mette Skar, WDF Programme high levels of conflict-related stress, high alcohol and number of people with diabetes in Kosovo, he continues. “Increasing health awareness is vital in a post-conflict Coordinator. “Dr Gola is very competent, well-respected tobacco consumption and – because diabetes is not well “Diabetes doesn’t have a high priority on the political setting, where eating healthy and taking regular and liked in the local . His next smile is never understood and often stigmatised – low levels of support agenda and the lack of a health system in Kosovo exercise has often been neglected.” Using the outcomes of far away. It is clear when you meet him that he is committed and care for people diagnosed with the . Altogether is a huge problem for people with diabetes.” the first project in Kosovo as its foundation, a second project to working for improvements in his country. this leads to poor diabetes control and many complications. – WDF11-624 – aimed to build an effective and sustainable “WE WANT TO CREATE A FRAMEWORK prevention strategy, with teams of doctors, nurses and “Through each phase of the collaboration, Dr Gola has Yet the situation is improving. In 2008, a WDF-funded ENSURING CONTINUED CARE FOR PEOPLE school educators as one of its cornerstones. embarked on advocacy initiatives to strengthen the project succeeded in instituting a national diabetes ensuring diabetes care in Kosovo,” she continues. “This is protocol; since then, the WDF’s partners in Kosovo have WITH DIABETES.” The project focused on primary prevention and prevention one of the main strengths of the projects – moving from made real progress in adapting and reorganising the Dr Luan Gola of diabetic foot complications and created a National local level to the highest political level, despite the difficult country’s healthcare structures to better care for people Institute for Occupational Health and NCDs Diabetes Association to improve lobbying and advocacy political environment.” with diabetes. activities. The Ministry of Health and regional health The creation and approval of a national protocol for the structures helped to implement the project. Dr Gola has high hopes for the future: that the treatment of type 1, type 2 and gestational diabetes was An impoverished land in Kosovo will establish the system it therefore a significant step forward for diabetes care The result: “Advice for prevention, healthy eating, healthy has proposed; more healthcare professionals are trained After years of severe ethnic tension and civil unrest in Kosovo. The protocol was produced as a result of lifestyle and diabetes-related advocacy in the country, both in primary, secondary and tertiary care; and eye care – culminating in war, Kosovo declared independence from WDF08-358, the first project ever funded by the WDF in at the and levels, have improved which today is usually treated at expensive private Serbia in 2008. The long and hard road to independence has Europe. “We knew the WDF was a leading organisation diabetes ,” Dr Luan says. led to more than half of Kosovo’s population living in poverty in improving diabetes care in developing settings, so we prepared a project application hoping to be able to change today and a healthcare system with serious problems, Using the momentum from the preceding projects, a PROJECTS IN KOSOVO AT A GLANCE explains Dr Luan Gola, Chief of Department for Diabetology the situation in our own country,” says Dr Gola. “Working third project, WDF14-867, is now working to consolidate The WDF has 1 ongoing and 2 completed projects and Endocrinology at the Institute for Occupational Health with the WDF we have found you can achieve very good these achievements with an even stronger focus on results for diabetes care even in a country with a low in Kosovo. and NCDs, General Secretary for the Kosovo Association for primary prevention, patient empowerment, lobbying and For details, see worlddiabetesfoundation.org/projects Diabetes and Endocrinology, and WDF project partner. national income.” advocacy. “With this project we will continue to improve

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