The government has registered with the National Business Center, the state-owned company that will carry out the sterilization of surgical instruments in public hospitals. The operator of integrated sterilization services will be a joint-stock company, which will perform the service that has so far been under concession to the Saniservice company.
According to documents filed with the Central Bank, the company's administrator will be Arisa Cane, an embryologist, while its shares will be owned by the Ministry of Health.
"The main object of activity of the joint-stock company OSHIS sh.a. is the provision of the following services for a fee: provision of personalized sets of sterile surgical instruments; supply of sterile disposable medical material in surgical rooms; treatment of biologically hazardous waste and disinfection of surgical rooms," the company's object of activity states.
According to the statute, the joint-stock company OSHIS sh.a offers the specified services to all public university, regional and municipal hospitals in the Republic of Albania. However, it can also offer other additional services to public and private entities.
Meanwhile, it remains unclear what the tariffs applied by this company will be for the service it will provide to hospitals. Will these tariffs continue to be the same as those of the concessionaire Saniservice or will the state-owned company apply lower prices.
Sterilization fees increased significantly 10 years ago, when the government transferred this service under concession to the Saniservice company, sparking public accusations of corruption. In fact, payments from the state budget to the concessionaire reached up to 20 million euros per year, while SPAK investigations later proved that the concession was a corrupt affair, leading to the arrest of several senior officials and one of the concessionaire's shareholders.
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