The Congressional Health Commission today hosted the first appearance of the Secretary of State for Health, Javier Padilla, who for an hour and a half presented the key work of the Ministry of Health for the coming months.
Padilla has focused on the key points of the work of the Ministry of Health, such as the approval of the law of creation of the State Public Health Agency (AESAP), which will be approved before the end of the year as announced during his speech. Padilla has highlighted the concept that this Agency “is not going to create a single competence that the Ministry does not now have.”“, because he has clarified, “it will be a technical body in which powers of the general directorate of public health will be relocated.”
Furthermore, Padilla has announced the upcoming approval of the Primary Care reform and progress in the processing of other initiatives such as the law for the prevention of alcohol consumption in minors and the tobacco lawkey points in matters of Public Health.
On the other hand, the Secretary of State for Health has highlighted the importance that the Ministry is giving to policies to improve the conditions of health professionals and has discussed pharmaceutical policy issues during his speech before the Chamber.
Actions on the health system
Padilla wanted to do an exhaustive analysis of the health system and the measures that are being implemented and that will above all fall on one of the pillars of the SNS to modernize: Primary Care. “The PC is not an access door to the health system or a place, it is a way of providing care to the population in an accessible, community, comprehensive and longitudinal way.“, Padilla said.
With this concept, Padilla recalled that taking into account the advances of society in all these factors, the Ministry is carrying out the 2025-2027 PA and Community Medicine Reform Plan, “which will be approved before the end of the year with new features.” such as the promotion of longitudinality. ““We will transform the PC teams by incorporating new professional figures such as nutritionists or podiatrists, to generate more versatility and autonomy for the PC.”Padilla noted.
“The AP plan will faithfully represent the values of the AP,” Padilla stressed.
Another of the actions on the health system that will directly impact the health of the population and the health system itself will be digitalization, which Padilla has said will serve “so that professionals have more time to care for patients.” Remembering that it must also be community-based, promoting aspects such as home care and deinstitutionalization. Padilla recalled that after years of strong investments, the most important advances in this area have occurred in the interoperability of the digital medical record. “Not only between the Autonomous Communities, but also between the Autonomous Communities and Europe”, he pointed out.
Mental Health
Another of the key points for this Ministry is, without a doubt, Mental Health, about which Padilla has said that it is a priority issue for Health. On this matter, the secretary has highlighted the upcoming approval of the New Comprehensive Mental Health Plan, which is “innovative and groundbreaking with respect to what existed before,” he noted. “We will advance in the much-needed community orientation in mental health and in not displacing people who already had serious disorders in this area“Padilla added.
On the other hand, he has referred to the Plan for the Suicide Prevention as an intersectoral plan. ““This plan will take a rigorous and courageous look that will take care of the social determinants that lead a person to a situation of such hopelessness.”he stressed. “From the institutions and administrations and from society we have to know how to respond to these situations,” he added.
Both initiatives, as Padilla has announced, will go through the CISNS before the month of December to continue their journey through the rest of the government bodies.
State Public Health Agency
Regarding Public Health, Padilla has announced that the Government is advancing in the approval of the State Public Health Agency (AESAP), whose objective will be to improve preparation and response to future pandemics. It is expected that the agency will have the majority support of the Autonomous Communities and will be a pillar of the health system of the future. “I hope it will be approved during the next session,” Padilla announced.
“The AESAP is not going to create a single competence that the Ministry does not have right now. It is a technical body that will relocate existing powers in the general health directorate, to give it more capabilities“, explained Padilla. “It will be an organization similar to the AEMPS,” he said, “and we have the absolute will for it to move forward unanimously so that those who next have to face a pandemic have an organization that coordinates and helps them,” he added.
Padilla has announced that this week they will meet with the different parliamentary groups to debate the amendments presented by each of them.
Alcohol consumption prevention law
At this point, the secretary of state has pointed out the importance of this legislative reform that responds to the protection of health on the one hand and the protection of childhood on the other. “We are at the point of reviewing allegations, it has been reported in the CISNS and we have met with the industry; After listening to all the agents, we have prepared this rule that we hope will be carried out by consensus,” Padilla said.
Regarding the famous tobacco law, Padilla has referred to it as “the legislative leg of the DR”, which will serve to regulate smoke-free spaces and products similar to tobacco and plain packaging. “Furthermore, with this law we will prohibit disposable vapes as dangerous as tobacco.”, Padilla indicated.
Profession policies
Regarding one of the fundamental problems of the SNS, the shortage of human resources, Padilla wanted to influence several points. “On this issue we focus only on the repeated idea that there are no doctors, but in reality there are many factors that affect this problem,” Padilla indicated.
The secretary has expressed that, in this area, The Ministry will work in several layers: retaining and relegating talent, optimizing the performance of professionals’ functions, redistributing skills and functions, and building professionals through the planning of university and specialized training.
In addition, Padilla has announced that a framework statute is at the negotiating table with the unions that will regulate, among other things, the criteria on the preclassification of professionals. Regarding the FSE, Padilla has announced that they are trying to recover the in-person election of places. “With this return to in-person presence we will reduce vacant positions and recover the symbolism of a candidate choosing a position in the Ministry of Health.”
Finally, in conclusion, Padilla recalled that Health also works in the projects based on the Universality and Equity of the SNS. “The fairest and most sustainable way to provide healthcare is to provide it to each person where they need it, at all times, and we must achieve this whether for social or economic justice.”, he concluded.
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