MADRID, 9 (EUROPA PRESS)
The Minister of health, social services and equality, Ana Mato, announced Thursday the implementation underway, for the first time, of a strategy for the boarding of the Crónicos patients with the intention of “improve the treatment of chronic health conditions, integrating prevention in all its fields and promoting the continuum of care, at the same time that responds to the health care of patients needs”.
In his speech at the IV National Congress of health care to the chronic patient, which has opened in Alicante, has explained that the health system has more complete and more effective instruments to address the acute, “but needs redirect to respond to the needs of the chronically ill”.
In his view, this need is evident especially in a context such as the present of ageing of the population, and when chronic diseases are the leading cause of care demand in the health centres and a high percentage of the total pharmaceutical expenditure.
Mato has reminded that in Spain about 20 million people suffer chronic diseases, most over 50 years. These diseases are the leading cause of death worldwide. In our country, half of deaths, approximately, due to one of the four most common chronic diseases: cancer, ischemic heart disease, ischemic heart disease, cardiovascular disease and diabetes mellitus.
To meet this challenge, the Ministry will develop the strategy, which is based on four pillars. Firstly, prevention, for that will act on risk factors such as tobacco, alcohol and inadequate diet. Secondly, the promotion of the patient as Center of the system. Therefore encourage autonomy and training of patients and their families through the creation of a network of schools patients.
Another of the pillars of the strategy will be the Elimination of watertight compartments, through the integration of primary and hospital care, in order to ensure the continuity of care. The fourth point relates to the ability of medical professionals, key element in the promotion of innovation and research, aimed at improving assistance to patients and their safety.
Precisely the Minister wanted to move a message to the health professionals who are responsible for the attention to chronic patients: “You playing a key role on the road to efficiency, allowing us reinvest resources in people, who are our priority”.
