A GoFundMe campaign has been launched for the purchase of ventilators for one of the two Albanian hospitals treating coronavirus patients.
Shefqet Ndroqi Hospital in Tirana, widely known as the Sanatorium, had 4 ventilators until Friday, April 3, when the government delivered 5 more, bringing that total to 9.
Former Democratic Party MP Agron Shehaj, who is also the creator of the fundraising campaign, has ordered 2 more ventilators that are expected to be donated to the same hospital in the coming days.
“The Sanatorium Hospital in Tirana is in desperate need for ventilators more than ever […] Covid-19 has affected Albania also, a poor country with lack of financial support. Day by day Albania is facing human losses while medical capacities are very limited,” Shehaj writes, while inviting people to donate.
As of April 5, Albania has reported 20 dead and 361 infected. However, the government has limited testing only to people over 65, the chronically ill, and those who have had contact with infected patients.
Albania has 160 ventilators in total, only 130 of which are owned by public hospitals. Additionally, the government has called for bids for over 50 new such machines.
Ventilators are used to assist or replace breathing in patients that are unable to do so spontaneously.
Based on his research for the two ventilators he purchased for donation, Shehaj has informed that the high demand and their limited number has made ventilators very difficult to find in the international market. Based on the requested delivery time, their price can currently range from about €15,000 to €50,000.
You can join the fundraising campaign by donating here.
