The year 2022 has marked another decrease in the number of white shirts within the health system. According to the INSTAT report, only in the primary service, Albania has 1.9% fewer doctors than in 2021, while nurses in this service fell by 0.7%.

Put in numbers, in the primary service last year were only 1,777 doctors, or 35 less than in 2021, while the number of nurses fell to 6,792 or 50 less than in 2021.

But while the number of doctors and nurses on duty is falling, the number of visits and needs for health care is increasing. According to INSTAT, in 2022, visits to the primary service increased by 1% compared to 2021.

The workforce in medicine, especially with the primary service, is shrinking due to emigration to Western countries, mainly Germany.

This academic year, there are 22,834 students in the fields of study related to health, which constitute 18% of the total number of students. The number of students majoring in health is higher than the needs of the domestic market, but this trend heralds the trends of emigration of professionals in the future.

The increase in the emigration of doctors was after 2016 and is mainly related to the sudden increase in the flow of doctors to Germany.

The Albanian government has taken one of the initiatives to prevent the departure of white shirts from the country.