Health in Kosovo

Kosovo’s Ministry of Health, Ministria e Shëndetësisë (MSh), sets health policy, regulates services, conducts inspections and defines standards. Municipalities organize primary health care, known as Kujdesi Parësor Shëndetësor (KPSh). The public primary-care network includes 458 units: 38 main family medicine centres called Qendra Kryesore e Mjekësisë Familjare (QKMF), 164 QMF units and 256 AMF units. Family medicine services cover health promotion, prevention, screening, diagnosis, treatment, rehabilitation, dental care, palliative care, home visits and some minor operations. The assigned family doctor system is still being expanded and may differ by municipality. Routine childhood vaccination covers ages 0 to 18. Vaccines are provided without charge through public programmes. HPV vaccination is routinely offered to girls at age 12, while pneumococcal and rotavirus vaccines were added in 2024. Seasonal influenza and COVID-19 vaccination depend on the current programme. Maternal and child home visits cover pregnant women, newborns from the third day after birth and children up to age three. In 2023, teams recorded 40,200 such visits in 30 municipalities. Health care has three levels. Primary care is provided through the municipal network, secondary care through 17 institutions and tertiary care through 19 institutions. SHSKUK and QKUK provide central hospital and specialist services, and Prishtina’s tertiary facilities also perform some secondary-care functions. Planned care commonly starts at a QKMF, QMF or AMF and continues through specialist or hospital referral when needed. Referral requirements and waiting times depend on the institution and region; no uniform nationwide waiting period is established in the available evidence. Public and private institutions both provide hospital, outpatient, diagnostic, therapeutic, rehabilitative and dental services. Emergency care is available around the clock. The free emergency number 112 can be called from fixed-line or mobile phones, and 194 is the medical emergency number. Emergency care includes life- or health-threatening emergencies and urgent conditions that are serious but not immediately life-threatening. Non-citizens receive emergency treatment under the same conditions, while care outside an emergency can generally involve payment unless an agreement or reciprocal arrangement applies. Mental health care can begin with a family doctor or primary-care service and continue through municipal or community mental health centres to psychiatric hospital or intensive care. Community-based care is the professional direction, but capacity, stigma and referral gaps can affect access. Rehabilitation is available at primary, secondary and tertiary levels. Primary care also provides home visits and palliative care. A separate nationwide 24-hour long-term-care pathway is not clearly established in the reviewed official health sources, so families and communities may remain part of the practical support arrangement while hospice and palliative networks continue to develop. Medicines are connected to the Lista e Barnave Esenciale (LBE), Kosovo’s essential medicines list. The Ministry of Health handles procurement, while pharmacies and health institutions provide medicines to users. Official medicine price lists have applied since 1 February 2025 and are updated, but availability, reimbursement and supply must be checked for the specific medicine and institution. Public care is mainly financed through public and municipal budgets, while private care is usually paid directly. Historic planning figures are not current price quotations: a 2022–2023 baseline estimated out-of-pocket spending at about 38.47% of total medical costs, while public expenditure covered about 65% of need. Law 04/L-125 provides equal health-access rights for citizens and residents and prohibits discrimination based on language, ethnicity, sex, age, disability or social status. Patients have rights to information about their condition and proposed interventions, to accept or refuse treatment, to choose a doctor or consultation within the applicable system, to access medical records, to confidentiality and data protection, and to use complaint and inspection channels. Health facilities must maintain safe records, continuity of care and non-discriminatory treatment. Disability access is supported by law and strategy, but practical infrastructure still requires checking at the specific facility. The health-insurance framework under Law 10/L-028 establishes the Fund for Health Insurance, FSDKSh, and compulsory insurance for residents. Contributions, co-payments, covered services and provider contracts depend on the person’s status and the implementation of the relevant insurance arrangements. People who are not registered or covered retain legally guaranteed free emergency care in public facilities where the lack of coverage was not caused by their own failure to register. Insurance details, service prices and medicine reimbursement belong to the specific coverage and cost rules rather than to the general description of health care.