site.btaOver 220 Local Bulgarians in Albanian Region of Mala Prespa Examined by Bulgarian Cardiologists

More than 220 members of the Bulgarian minority in the region of Mala Prespa, Albania, were examined free of charge between August 18 and August 20, 2023 by Bulgarian cardiologists, the Acibadem City Clinic University Hospital Cardiovascular Centre said Tuesday.

The initiative is of the Bulgarian Memory Foundation, under the patronage of Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Mariya Gabriel. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs provided the transportation of the medical team led by cardiologist Prof. Dr. Ivo Petrov, while the medical equipment and the logistical support in the field was transported by the military aircraft "Spartan".

The preventive cardiological check-ups in the villages of Pustec and Dolna Goritsa aroused huge interest among the population, Acibadem City Clinic said. The consultations were crucial for a large number of people who have not had access to a cardiologist in Pustec for years. The specialists diagnosed some of them with diseases that require treatment.

The examinations were carried out by Prof. Dr. Ivo Petrov - Medical Director and Head of the Clinic of Cardiology and Angiology at the hospital, the specialist doctors from the Cardiology Department - Dr. Alexandrina Kuzov and Dr. Viktor Konstantinov, nurse Veselka Galabova, as well as specialist in cardiology and echocardiography Dr. Aldin Ali, who worked at the hospital until recently. They presented the community with an automatic external defibrillator, which is life-saving in cardiac arrest.

"We would like to express our gratitude to the team of Acibadem City Clinic University Hospital Cardiovascular Center for taking part in the implementation of this noble initiative," said Director of the Southeast Europe Directorate at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Momchil Raytchevski.

"For us, everyone should have access to medical care", said co-founder and managing director of Sofia Acibadem City Clinic University Hospital Andrey Markov, adding that the hospital has provided some of its best specialists for the people in Pustec. "We hope that more colleagues will follow our example," Markov said.