site.btaBulgarian Physicians Examine for Free 300 Residents of Albania's Mala Prespa Region

Nearly 300 residents of the Albanian region of Mala Prespa, which is home to a Bulgarian community, were examined by some of the most prominent Bulgarian physicians, headed by the world-renowned cardiologist Prof. Ivo Petrov, the Bulgarian Memory Foundation announced on Monday.

The mission was carried out for the second consecutive year with funding from the Bulgarian Memory Foundation and the support of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. This time the team of Acibadem City Clinic University Hospital's Cardiovascular Center was joined by doctors from St. Ivan Rilski University Hospital and Heidelberg Medical Center.

"This year we have expanded the scope of examinations with several new specialties - we continue with cardiology and internal medicine, but we have also added ear, nose, throat and ophthalmology specialists. The interest has been tremendous, and people have received us very warmly and with great hope, including people who have traveled from surrounding towns to be able to get to these checkups. We even found out that some of the patients had been referred by doctors in Tirana who had examined them and told them that they could count on us as well. I think we were a benefit to the people and the local population. We are honoured and pleased that we were able to help", said Prof. Ivo Petrov.

Bulgarian Memory Foundation Chair Milen Vrabevski, MD, thanked all the doctors, nurses and physicians who took part in this mission, the hospital directors. He also thanked the Bulgarian ministries of Foreign Affairs and of Defence for being partners and providing the Spartan military aircraft for transporting the Bulgarian medics. "Albania is now on the right European path and we showed in practice what European integration and solidarity mean," said Vrabevski during his visit to Pustec.

This is another major investment of the Bulgarian Memory Foundation and Milen Vrabevski in the Albanian region, after the purchase in 2023 and 2024 of professional medical equipment and supplies for the clinics in the region of Mala Prespa, furniture and computer equipment for the new building of the municipality of Pustec, 24 benches for the villages in the municipality and a fully equipped medical container for the needs of the residents of the village of  Glloboceni. In July 2020, the Bulgarian Memory Foundation donated a fire truck, an ambulance and an all-terrain vehicle for social patronage to the municipality of Pustec, which the Albanian municipality did not have at that time.