Public health training in Albania: Long way toward a school of public health

Aim. To assess the needs for a school of public health in Albania, where health system has been going through difficult periods of transition after the collapse of the communist regime and its "Soviet" health system in 1991. Method. Review of the past and current state of public health training, as well as the evolution of the main institutions involved in public health training in Albania, in view of the recent attempts undertaken to establish a school of public health. Results. Up to early 1990s, public health training in Albania involved mostly physicians and was based to a great extent on sanitary engineering approach. In the mid 1990s, the activities of the Department of Public Health of the Faculty of Medicine in Tirana focused on development of comprehensive public health training program. The aim of the current 2-year training program is to train public health specialists in a new fashion, in line with current international trends in the "new" public health. However, the size and the background of the faculty of the Department of Public Health (8 members, 7 physicians) is too limited and medically oriented. Since 1969, the Institute of Hygiene and Epidemiology (later National Institute of Public Health) has been providing short-term (1-3 months) courses for hygienists, chemists, and microbiologists working at the district level. Conclusion: Only the establishment of a school of public health capable to train specialists according to international standards can meet the health needs of Albania.