Albania’s demographic changes have sparked considerable interest in recent years. Much of this attention has arisen due to a general lack of knowledge and unexpected demographic behaviour of the Albanian populations. The country has experienced a high level of life expectancy and relatively high levels of fertility in the recent years. While previous research gives some answers to developing tr...

OBJECTIVE Our aim was to validate an international instrument measuring self-perceived competency level of family physicians in Albania. METHODS A representative sample of 57 family physicians operating in primary health care services was interviewed twice in March-April 2012 in Tirana (26 men and 31 women; median age: 46 years, inter-quartile range: 38-56 years). A structured questionnaire w...

BACKGROUND Public health practice has come to increasing recognition of health promotion and the central role of knowledge, attitude, beliefs and practices in achieving health promotion. Health literacy (HL) is an under-explored topic in South Eastern European countries. There are no HL reports from Albania to date. The aim of this study was to assess the concurrent validity of the European Hea...

BACKGROUND HIV-1 epidemic in Western Europe is largely due to subtype B. Little is known about the HIV-1 in Eastern Europe, but a few studies have shown that non-B subtypes are quite common. In Albania, where a recent study estimated a ten-fold increase of AIDS incidence during the last six years, subtype A and B account for 90% of the know infections. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS We invest...

Between April and December 1996, a serious outbreak of poliomyelitis occurred in Albania; almost 140 subjects were involved, and the episode presented an unusually high mortality rate (12%). During the outbreak, water samples from the Lana River in Tirana, Albania, and stool samples from two cases of paralytic poliomyelitis were collected and analyzed for the presence of polioviruses. Six polio...

This article describes a new method to more accurately evaluate the wind potential of 5 areas interest in southern Albania. Using WAsP simulation program, authors were able compare data from Balkan Wind Atlas (BWA) and New European (NEWA) real measurements Mamaj, Tepelenë, showed that NEWA is closer conditions Albania than BWA. Furthermore, by analyzing speed, power density direction, illustrat...

Nowadays, a good teacher is crucial for the education of young generation and all society. But what drives people to pursue teaching career in Albania, despite changes law that have occurred during these years? In this article, we try discover motives driving students career. Part study was 201 students, following program public non-public higher institutions Albania. For first time applied Fit...

Introduction / objectives The attenuated bacilli Calmette-Guerin (BCG) vaccine is administered in Albania to all newborns at the first day of life to prevent tuberculosis. Although complications are rare after BCG vaccination and the outcome is usually favourable, serious BCG infections can occur. The risks associated with BCG vaccination include local complications, extraregional localized dis...