Shabani: Albania is not so poor that it cannot afford the treatment of children

Shabani: Which MP will be against or ignore this initiative?

On the occasion of June 1, the People's Advocate opened the doors to the civic initiative "Initiative for Children", where a group of parents, with authorization from the CEC, are collecting signatures to propose a law that guarantees full state funding for the treatment of children inside or outside the country.

The Initiative Committee collected the signatures of the institution's staff and received the support of Mr. Endrit Shabani to further push the Assembly to approve this law.

“There is no country so poor that it cannot guarantee their health. It is unjustifiable that we still in Albania have to set up a 'GoFundMe' to finance the health treatment of Albanian children, in a country where legally healthcare is free, where there is a constitutional commitment, a constitutional right of all Albanian citizens, especially children. I refuse to accept that Albania is so poor that we have to set up a 'GoFundMe'”, said the Ombudsman.

Mr. Shabani informed the initiative group that the Ombudsman will address the Parliament requesting a hearing specifically on this issue.

"We are all in institutional support of this initiative. We will exercise the constitutional powers we have to request that the Assembly be heard only on this issue and of course then to monitor the implementation of the law. I find it difficult to find a member of the Albanian Parliament who will vote against or ignore an initiative that aims to guarantee the health of Albanian children", said Shabani.

Activists Suela Koçibellinj and Ardit Konomi informed that they have currently collected around 17 thousand signatures and called for support so that during the remaining weeks the required number of 20,000 signatures is exceeded.

They thanked the Ombudsman and staff for the signatures and asked for further support for the approval of the legal initiative so that no child is left without necessary treatment due to income or the public health system.

The Commissioner for Children's Rights, Alma Faskaj, congratulated the group of parents for the initiative and guaranteed that the Ombudsman and the special section for children will be by their side.