The test for all of us now is to have a healthy Kosovo with a good health service. This is a doubly difficult task because not only was much of what you had destroyed, but the standard of what was here before was very low. This is your chance to jump over these two obstacles, but it is a big job - not just restoring hospitals but building a whole new health service. The World Health Organization, which has guided the response to health needs in the emergency relief effort on behalf of the United Nations Mission, is due to issue a strategy outlining the basic structure of the new Kosovan health service and how it should develop over the next 6 months.
Key work is also underway to define building and staffing needs, especially in training.
No funds are coming in apart from those from the international community. And the coffers of the Health Insurance Fund, which previously financed care, are completely empty due to looting. How the health service will be financed in the long term is a major issue according to Ms Short. However, she added that vital ground work is underway and urged Kosovan health professionals to continue working closely with international agencies.