The Department of Health of the Vitoria City Council plans to end the 30 agreements it had with 28 associations to meet the social and health needs of various groups of the Alava territory permanently for years. These nominal grants will be replaced by a call for grants for the financial year 2022, what has mired in uncertainty to some associations small companies wondering how they will continue to serve their users without the guarantee of a fixed income.
«The Government team wants to continue supporting these associations as much or more than up to now, but also that the awarding of financial aid is in accordance with the projects and is developed with the greatest transparency and objectivity possible “, said the Councilor for Health and Sports Livia López when questioned about this matter by the mayor Ainhoa Domaica, of the PP. “These small entities of the third sector maintain a historical relationship for decades with the Department of Health and are necessary for people from Vitoria who face rare diseases or need guidance, listening and help,” added the popular.
In the last year, a total of 429,000 euros to socio-sanitary agreements with entities such as the Red Cross, Once, Asajer, Asafes, Aspace or Afa-Araba. The Department of Health conveyed to the associations its intention to modify the direct subsidy system through a video call. López maintains that a good part of the agreements that are already in operation will continue to operate, but stresses that the current concession model does not prioritize “publicity, transparency, competition, objectivity and non-discrimination.”
“More than one association, perhaps ours, will have to consider closing if it does not receive a minimum”
Susana garcía – finish, against anorexia and bulimia
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“We would be forced to cancel some services for months”
marisol diaz de cerio – asamma, breast cancer
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Associations like Acabe, who has been working against anorexia and bulimia since 1996, they show hurt with the intentions of the department. «We are asked to justify every last penny of aid and so we do. More than one association, including ours, will have to consider closing if it does not receive a minimum, this change endangers the continuity of therapies “, explains its president, Susana García. This entity, made up of relatives of people with eating disorders, for example, has only one administrative officer on the payroll, something very common in small groups. Your salary and other expenses such as group therapies, of great help to the sick and their families, could be compromised if their project is not accepted in a public call.
«They must take into account that We have been developing a task that would cost Osakidetza much more money “, says Marisol Díaz de Cerio, president of the Alava Association of Women with breast and / or gynecological cancer Asamma. This 30-year-old entity allocates the almost 3,000 euros it receives to pay for the physical therapy and counseling sessions of its users, sometimes without resources. “Without it we would be forced to cancel some services for a few months,” he explains.
Some associations have already expressed their intention to mobilize against the new system and they prepare writings showing their disagreement and concern about the care that patients and chronically ill patients will receive. For its part, the City Council affirms that lThe call for 2022 will take place in the remainder of 2021 so that each association knows how much money it will have as of January 1. The line of grants will attend programs related to disease prevention, health promotion in schools and care and rehabilitation for affected people and their families.
28 entities affected
- Federation of Vicente Abreu Associations:
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Aspanafoa, Acabe, Adela, Arene-Neuromuscular, Adelprise, Asafima, Aresbi Spina bifida, Anadahi, Adeles, Asamma, and the Alava Associations of Epilepsy, Diabetics and Celiac (Ezeba).
- Other:
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Asajer, Afa-Araba, AECC, Once, Aspace, Down Araba, Red Cross, Atece, Multiple Sclerosis, Heart without Borders, Jeiki Foundation, Anti-AIDS Commission, Apdema and Agle.
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