The inability of Executive by Pedro Sánchez to reach a political agreement with the parliamentary forces has left the perspectives of growth in the air and the possibility of carrying out fundamental reforms in various sectors, since Health to education and justice and the most serious, leave Spain without budgets.
The approval of General State Budgets It is one of the most important and decisive processes in the management of any government. How many public define the allocation of resources to essential areas such as health and, in this case, the possibility of providing the recently approved budget National Primary Care Plan As proposed by the Minister of Health, Mónica García.
And, the economic items that must be assigned to this health plan are based on the 2024 spending projections, Without being able to update this year. This implies that the autonomous communities will have, once again, to advance the cost in an estimated manner, with minimal economic aid by the State.
The Primary Care In Spain, the cornerstone of the public health system is living complicated situations in many regions. Despite being a fundamental component for prevention, early diagnosis and disease treatment, this sector of the health system has been ignored for years, and the consequences of this lack of aid by the government in these last seven years are increasing Basque Country, Catalonia or the autonomous cities of Ceuta and Melilla, To name a few examples.
In this sense, the Minister of Health, Mónica Garcíawants to carry out its implementation because it is one of its promises of legislature, But its transfer to autonomies requires economic items and not forecasts. In addition, this plan set for 2025-2027, It is the entrance door to the National Health System (SNS) and, as such, has a central role in the provision of health services accessible, integral and continuous.
Demand growth
In recent years, the SNS has faced an exponential growth in demand, derived from several factors such as population aging, the increase in chronic diseases (since 2019 a 10.84% of people that suffer one or more chronic health problems, which supposes 2,343,657 of citizens); and the new user expectations, which demand more personalized and close attention.
This panorama has revealed the urgent need to strengthen and modernize the AP, ensuring its ability to adapt to new challenges and guarantee the sustainability of the health system, But without a budget it is simply wet paper and one more complication for autonomies because they are forced to meet rules without budgets to boost them.
To contextualize the AP in Spain, it is possible to take a tour of some generalities that reflect the starting point. In Spain, 47,755,450 people They have access to health care through the National Health System. Our country occupies the eighth global position in life expectancy at birth, this value being 85.7 years in women and 80.4 in men. The main cause of death among women is cerebrovascular disease, followed by the ischemic disease of the heart.
The latter leads mortality in men, with lung cancer in second place. All this without forgetting that the first cause of external death, regardless of gender, is the accidental fall, intimately related to the fragility in the group of elders of 65 years, detecting an increase in 2023 of 6.3%.
No budget for the ELA law
The Congress of Deputies took a decisive step in the fight against amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ELA) by unanimously approved in October last year, the new ELA law. This legislation represented a milestone for patients, their families and scientific communitysince it established an integral framework for the approach of the disease in Spain. However, five months later, the president of the Government, Pedro Sánchez, has not been able to provide of 250 million euros to apply vital regulations for the management and survival of those affected by this dramatic disease.
Mental health or suicide prevention
Another of the plants that wishes to promote health in its recent policies is the approval of new guidelines on Mental health However, it collides in front with the low number of psychiatrists in our country and whose noting health ratio, being the lowest in Europe. Own Mónica García, has criticized that more drugs are being recent than it should, against the opinion of the whole of scientific societies; An opinion that distracts the need to improve in media and professionals.
Approximately, about 20% of the population Spanish will suffer a mental disorder throughout his life. Of these, more than 5% could be classified as serious mental disorderssuch as schizophrenia, bipolar disorder and serious depressions. The most frequent such as anxiety, depression and eating disorders, as well as sleep problems, suffered an increase during pandemic. Something that was seen more accused among the population Infanto-Juvenile.
On the other hand, despite being approved in the Interterritorial advice Common policies to stop suicide in our countrycommunities such as Madrid, keep their protocols active and advance in new policies with projects and more budget.
Thus, the president of the Community of Madrid, Isabel Díaz Ayusorecently announced, the creation of the first specialized unit of Spain aimed at investigating how to improve «Mental, social and emotional health»Of the students. Will be in him Madrid Higher Institute of Educational Innovation (ISMIE) and José Antonio Luengo, Dean of the Official College of Psychology of Madrid.
It is an initiative that will have a team of experts that will carry out work in social and emotional material applied to coexistence, the study of the repercussions of the use and abuse of screens or the consumption of addictive substances.
