"It's free, but it's not free", a year of Evis Sala amidst propaganda and viral gaffes

Evis Sala's resignation from the position of Minister of Health ends an experience of no more than a year at the head of one of the government's most sensitive institutions.

However, with her departure, it can be said that her political balance in this 1 year left behind only a series of propaganda promises, public clashes, and several statements that turned into viral material on social networks.

Introduced by Edi Rama in September 2025 as a figure with international experience and an academic profile, Sala initially appeared with the mission of bringing another standard to the healthcare system.

At her inauguration ceremony on September 20, 2025, she identified resolving the reimbursement of oncology drugs as one of the main challenges.

" It is unacceptable for us that oncology drugs are not fully reimbursable. This is a challenge for me too. It is doable ," Sala declared on the day of his presentation as minister. 

But oncology would be one of the topics that would put the minister in the face of the strongest criticism.

On April 23, 2026, during an interpellation in the Parliament, the opposition raised a number of problems with the oncology service. Among them was the lack of functioning brachytherapy and insufficient capacities for patients. According to them, for about 120 patients undergoing chemotherapy per day, there were only 30 armchairs.

Faced with these criticisms, Sala declared that " today at the Mother Teresa University Hospital Center, there is no shortage of any medication."

It was one of the statements that received great public attention, precisely because it was made at a time when the issue of drugs and treatments in Oncology continued to be at the center of debate.

Just a few weeks earlier, on March 5, 2026, during a conference on the reform of the oncology service, journalist Osman Stafa had asked the minister a specific question about the shortage of drugs.

He cited as an example prostate cancer patients who were two months without therapy at the time and spoke about the lack of folinic acid.

Sala responded that the ministry had taken measures to stabilize supply and that the team was always on alert for acute situations.

"We have taken several measures to ensure the stability of the supply of medicines. The team is always on alert to address acute situations for patients, but a permanent solution is needed." 

"We have also worked on very good protocols so that the treatment lines are standardized according to the EU, this ensures that we have a stable supply ," the minister replied.

Instead of a simple balance of drug supply, the debate thus turned into a clash between what the ministry declared and what was reported by patients, the opposition, and journalists.

But another statement by Sala would be remembered from her first days in office.

On September 20, 2025, while presenting herself at the QSUT, the minister praised the hospital's infrastructure and stated that "hospitals in developed countries of the world have nothing more" than Albanian hospitals. 

It was a sentence that sounded like an advertisement for the Albanian healthcare system, at a time when the minister herself had just taken office and had identified the problem of reimbursement of oncology drugs as one of the first challenges.

Another promise was for doctors who leave the country.

" We will stop the flow of good doctors," Sala declared in September 2025, but the emigration of doctors and nurses still continues to be one of the chronic problems of the Albanian system and one of the structural challenges of Albanian healthcare.

 Free Check-Up

In July, for example, Sala announced the extension of the free Check-Up to citizens over 70 and that the check-up could be performed by any citizen over 35, with no upper age limit. She also announced the creation of the first Geriatrics service and a counseling line for the elderly.

On the other side of the balance stands a system where oncology problems, waiting times for services, and medical equipment continued to be a shortage and an ordeal of suffering for Albanian patients. 

Another statement that will remain in Evis Sala's one-year balance sheet was the one about the tests at the QSUT. On March 26, 2026, the minister publicly admitted that in the largest hospital in the country, after the 20th of each month, routine tests for hospitalized patients were not being performed due to lack of funds.

"After the 20th of the month, we have a problem with the tests of patients admitted to the QSUT due to funding," Sala declared, adding that the situation would be resolved within the year.

In the following months, Sala continued to promote reforms and investments in the healthcare system, while this statement remained one of the cases when the minister herself publicly acknowledged a significant problem within the system she led.

Statements that turned into memes

From her first public appearance as minister, part of her speech would take a different direction on social media.

Medicine is free but it is not free.

There is no shortage of medicine at the QSUT!

S.Gj-Politiko.al