Author: Klevis Paloka
"Countries that have weakened the public health service by cutting funding or delegating it to private profit-making companies are coping with this pandemic with difficulty", explained a few weeks after the announcement of the pandemic in the website of the Academy of Sciences, in an article named after Prof. Dr. Genc Sulçebe, member of the Medicine Commission. During the months that followed under the 'hooves' of Sars-Cov-2, four such hospitals were certified as provisional anticovid hospitals in the country. Among the movements to keep the wallet open, not only for the purchase of medical kits, but also for equipping all institutions with disinfectants and protective barriers, it was seen that this "generosity" did not escape even the Academy of Sciences. Quite unlike any other institution, the Academy of Sciences was financially assisted to deepen research against the Covid-19 virus.
This decision-making of October 28, came at a time when, through its members, the Academy had meanwhile presented the Albanian anti-covid scientific point of view, where it was expressed statistically not only for the rate of spread, but also for the negative impact that was being marked in the country's economy.
The sum of 4.6 million lek that you added to the budget, you allocated to the Academy of Sciences as 'current expenses' just before the year that was ending. As an argument for the addition to the 2020 budget, it was to cover expenses for study and research projects related to Covid-19.
In the meeting of the government it is ordered "To the Academy of Sciences, in the approved budget for 2020, a fund of 4 (four million six hundred thousand) lek is added to the item "Current expenses", for covering expenses for study and research projects related to Covid-19. The financial effect of 4 (four million six hundred thousand) ALL is borne by the reserve fund of the state budget, approved for 600.
Where was 4.6 million ALL spent?
The Albanian Center for Quality Journalism contacted the Academy of Sciences to find out where this additional fund granted by the Albanian Government would be used.
In the response of the Academy of Sciences, it is stated for ACQJ, that the unit of biotechnology (next to ASH) is cooperating with the medical commission and the working group of the Covid-19 pandemic to carry out some studies.
"The most important is the study on the seroprevalence of SARS-CoV-2 in the population of the City of Tirana, which has been divided into three phases. The first and second phases had a budget of 494,404 ALL and the third phase had a budget of 2.500.000 ALL.
But when the third phase of the study will begin is not yet known. The first two phases are closed and belong to the months of May and December 2020.
While other studies according to the Academy require a longer time from 6 to 12 months.
What impresses are the other studies that the Academy of Sciences has approved, starting from the study on "composite with graphene oxide chemically changed with starch-based bioplastics for food wrapping film with antibacterial properties", or the study "Nano-wrapping of cement-based surfaces with antiviral properties".
Speaking in the language of monetary values, all these studies will cost the Academy of Sciences full 6,417,904 ALL.
While other countries have begun to vaccinate the population, the Academy of Sciences is still studying ways to protect yourself from the infection that has gripped the globe, an issue that medicine has been vocal about.
What will these studies serve us for?
"The results of the project on Seroprevalence of Covid-19 serve to improve the policies and measures taken by the country's health system in dealing with the Covid-19 pandemic. The results of the nanotechnology projects will be able to be used by health institutions, institutions dealing with infrastructure development, and business, to provide better solutions in studying the spread of the pandemic and taking protective measures. emphasizes the Academy for ACQJ.
However, pending the scientific and academic research of the 3rd phase, the conclusions of the second phase of the Covid-19 seroprevalence, resulted in opposition from members of the Technical Committee of Experts or even from members of the Academy of Sciences.
Findings published in December 30, 2020 by academicians Genc Sulçebe and Alban Ylli pointed out that in the first phase the verified immunity resulted in the limits of 6-7 percent. "At the current stage, the data lead to the conclusion that half of the population of Tirana, 50 percent of it, has gained immunity. But there are obvious differences with other regions of Albania", cited in the study.
This result also brought reactions. The first objection came from the head of the National Emergency, Skënder Brataj, who in a statement for A2CNN, insisted that immunization is no more than 20-25%.
"I received a news of 50% immunization, but where was it done, how many were there, the number, with what methodology and who checked it scientifically? It was said by the Academy of Sciences. As far as I know, there are about 800 people who were tested and it cannot be called a study nor does it provide an indication of the population. I think the immunization is not more than 20-25%", says Brataj.
As the days pass, Skënder Brataj remains firm on this position even after being asked by the ACQJ. "I have not changed my mind from what I stated", claims Brataj.
The well-known academician Artan Fuga, a member of the Academy of Sciences, did not delay in RESPONSE his openly against the study that he called unsupported. The place where Professor Fuga spoke was on the Facebook social network.
"As a member of that Academy of Sciences, I declare my personal distance from the statements in question, considering them unsupported enough to be reliable, methodologically unproven with the required transparency and declared hastily, without respecting the deontology of scientific research ", points out Fuga in his post, which also listed several statements that the Academy of Sciences has previously made that turned out to be wrong.
Asked by ACQJ, Fuga mocks ASH's findings by adding "I say that according to my study, an earthquake will occur in 2022. This is called a study, just to declare? Is this science? Apart from the results, where are the others. The study is not the results", insists Fuga for the Albanian Center for Quality Journalism.
Pros and Cons
Academics Genc Sulçebe and Alban Ylli, who presented the study at the end of December, remain the best "lawyers" of the case.
"The opinions given in the media are from individuals who are not experts in the field of epidemiology or immunology and have no experience in research work. Those opinions were given with conjecture, in an emotional way, without knowing in detail the methodology of the study and without scientific criteria". Dr. Sulçebe insists on ACQJ.
While Ylli refused to give an answer and stated that this matter was expressed in the press release of the Academy.
In the interviews conducted with the two academics, what contradicts each other is the fact with what money this study was financed. According to Sulçebe, this study was financed with the modest financial support of the Academy of Sciences and partially from two private companies. When asked about the name of the two companies, Sulcebe did not give details.
Whereas, unlike his colleague in this study, Ylli stated that a minimal fund was used for the purchase of laboratory kits that was given by the Academy of Sciences.
Both academics claim that very soon their study will be accessible with all the results and all the scientific details.
The World Health Organization has not yet seen the study
ACQJ also contacted the representative of the World Health Organization in Albania. But despite the uproar it caused in the country, the study has not yet been made available to the WHO.
"The World Health Organization has not seen this study and has not been advised. Therefore, we cannot give any answer". it is stated in the official response of the WHO in Albania.
The Albanian Center for Quality Journalism contacted the Academy of Sciences again, to ask if this study has been consulted with international organizations, but by the time this article was published, no response was received.
