Quantifying missed opportunities in health sector for women and girls victims of violence in Albania

Abstract

Abstract Health facilities are important contact points for victims of violence against women and girls (VAWG) in need of care. In Albania relevant data about health sector utilization remain scarce. This is a first attempt aiming to quantify missed opportunities for survivors of VAWG at the health system. We used a sample of 151 victims of VAWG, residents of Tirana Capital, retrieved from the dataset of Counseling Line for Women and Girls, a non-governmental agency. All cases were victims of physical violence during 2018-2022. For each case in the sample, health records for the same period were traced in Tirana hospitals and primary health care (PHC) facilities medical registries. Hospital records were traced for all 151 cases, while PHC records were completed only for the cases with a national ID. No case of VAWG was formally registered or reported by health services in Tirana in the 5 years prior to survey. Nonetheless, 51.5% of survivors had used PHC services and 20.4% had used hospital services during the same period. 8.6% had been at the emergency service of Trauma Hospital with acute symptoms of physical body harm and 12.5% had received obstetric-gynecologic care. The average number of visits at PHC for the women using the services was 3.3, ranging from 1 to 15 visits during 5 years. The most common reasons for the visits at PHC were chronic conditions (28.7%), followed by infection diseases (22.%) and mental illness (16.5%). Health sector opportunities to provide specific treatment and support to victims of VAWG are missed at multiple levels in Albania. While piloting integrated health and social care at selected PHC facilities in the country provide a good momentum for responding to some of the unmet needs, a more comprehensive agenda for the health sector should address physician's failure to identify and deal with VAWG as a health problem. Key messages • Health sector opportunities to provide specific treatment and support to victims of violence against women and girls are missed at multiple levels in Albania. • Interventions in the health sector should address physician's failure to identify and deal with violence against women and girls as a health problem.