Economic challenges to improve health system efficiency in the Western Balkan countries: The case of the covid-19 pandemic

Health security has long been a neglected dimension of national security even in developed countries, and especially in areas such as the Western Balkans. However, the current crisis caused by the COVID-19 pandemic threatens to completely redefine the global national security agenda in the coming period. The purpose of this paper is to analyze the efficiency of health systems in the Western Balkans through the prism of preventing, detecting and responding to pandemics and other forms of dangers to public health. The aim is to identify key economic challenges and factors for improving the efficiency of the region?s health systems, taking into account the empirical experiences arising from the current health crisis caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. The research findings indicate significant problems that all Western Balkan countries face in terms of labor force management in health systems, the sources of which can be sought, above all, in the increasingly intensive emigration of medical staff to developed countries.