In the first wave of the covid alone, the number of cancer diagnoses fell by more than 21%, representing about 30,000 people. This means that these tumors were diagnosed at a more advanced stage and with an increased chance of death. Also in this first wave and in 75 hospitals it was found that deaths from heart attack doubled and treatments decreased by 40%.
These are some data on a small part of the non-covid diseases that were affected by the pandemic and that have had a very serious impact (even death) on the population. “The duration of the pandemic has generated significant delays in non-covid care both in preventive and in diagnoses and curative aspects. If we do not act urgently, the delays will become chronic and the impact on mortality and morbidity will be enormous ”, according to a document prepared by the Federation of Scientific Medical Associations (Facme).
Catalonia demands to consolidate the staff and the budget dedicated to face the post-pandemic
“It is necessary to rebuild the health system and do it now,” claims Facme, which represents more than 120,000 health professionals and that on Tuesday delivered to the Minister of Health, Carolina Darias, its report, in which administrations are urged to rebuilding a health system that has been hit hard by the pandemic and that requires profound changes to move forward.
Facme identifies four strategic areas, supporting the report on the fragility observed in the most vulnerable patients and populations during the pandemic and on the operational features of the health services. These areas are: optimal recovery of delayed patients, better management and follow-up for chronic patients, quality in the identification of risk factors and in the development of diagnostic processes, and reorganization and allocation of new resources.
Scientific societies believe that their role in this reconstruction is fundamental, because it is the professionals who know the deficiencies and virtues of the system and see in European funds “an opportunity” to modernize a health system with serious symptoms of collapse.
In Catalonia, Josep Maria Argimon leads the same battle. The head of Health insists on the need to consolidate the increase in personnel –about 15 additional professionals– and in the budget –2,160 million extraordinary from the State– registered by Catalan health as a result of the pandemic.
“We are making an effort to have more resources in health, but a response from the State is necessary with the maintenance of extraordinary covid funds,” claimed the minister in a conference before professionals in the sector, arguing that it is an investment to long term and a system of economic redistribution.
In this line, the entities integrated in the board of directors of the Servei Català de la Salut have signed a statement in which they underline the need to maintain covid funds in the State budgets, at least in 2022, “to guarantee healthcare activity necessary and face the expenses caused by the management of the pandemic ”.
“A large part of the activity created to deal with the covid must be maintained, such as the vaccination plan, the detection tests (at a cost of 30 million per month) or the monitoring of the persistent covid, in addition to having to continue to maintain and consolidate health structures that have been put in place, without forgetting the need to recover the level of pre-pandemic healthcare activity, ”the text states.
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