By Enrique Ruiz-Escudero, Minister of Health of the Community of Madrid
Will 2022 be the year that COVID-19 ends? I hope so, but if this virus has taught us anything, it is that predictions never come true. What we have learned is that the management to face it has had to evolve, as the characteristics of the different variants have evolved.
Therefore, our measures will have to adapt in 2022 to the challenges that the virus presents us with. No wave has been the same as another, nor have the measures to be adopted.
A good example has been the sixth wave, starring Ómicron, more contagious than its predecessors.
This forced the Community of Madrid to commit to modifying the protocol for handling close contact, to organize specific circuits in hospitals and health centers to carry out antigen tests; and for the free distribution of these tests in pharmacies. Measures that have been combined with the most important and effective tool to confront the coronavirus, the vaccine.
We believe and bet on vaccination. We have achieved a high degree of immunity in the Community of Madrid. And we want to expand this data, getting everyone who has not been vaccinated yet to do so. Just as we stressed the importance of the vulnerable population, people with higher risk factors, coming to administer the booster dose.
Precisely, this precision in decision-making is what defines the ‘Madrid Model against COVID-19’. A model that has combined health and economy, that has been durable over time, and that has allowed us to advance as a society.
A model with which the Community of Madrid has led the management of Covid at the national level. From the miracle that was the Ifema Hospital came the construction of the Isabel Zendal Nursing Hospital, the largest center for pandemics, and which is a perfect example of this leadership. As well as the incorporation of antigen tests, basic health zones, hospital elasticity plans, the key role of primary care and SUMMA 112, the ICU corridor or the union of public and private health.
Initiatives led by President Isabel Díaz Ayuso. Your support and courage have made a difference in managing the pandemic. As has the responsibility, experience and capacity of the professionals of the Madrid health system, something that is allowing us to overcome this crisis little by little.
Primary care is vital and in Madrid we have developed a Comprehensive Improvement Plan, which contemplates increasing the budget for this area by 200 million
A fact that, in turn, enables us to continue with all non-Covid activity. In this sense, the great challenges of a future that is already present go through, first of all, the Post-Covid19 Patient Comprehensive Care Strategy, which aims to care for those people with symptoms after overcoming the virus.
Mental health is also a priority objective. Primordial after the impact of the pandemic. For this reason, we have a new Mental Health and Addictions Plan that places emphasis on caring for children, young people, and people at risk of exclusion.
Definitely, primary care is vital, and in Madrid we have developed a Comprehensive Improvement Plan, which contemplates increasing the budget for this area of care by 200 million, which is around 2,000 million. With this fund, new positions will be promoted, there will be salary improvements, more modern and technological equipment and, in addition, new health infrastructures will be created.
Along these lines, we have a Health Infrastructure Modernization Plan that includes the reform and improvement of the large Madrid hospitals, such as La Paz, 12 de Octubre or the Gregorio Marañón Hospital. Without forgetting the start-up or processing of 15 new Health Centers in this year 2022; in addition to remodeling in another 40 health centers.
The Madrid Pharmacy will experience a before and after in 2022, with the approval of a new standard, typical of the 21st century, by incorporating the demands of citizens and pharmacists. With it, the functions of these professionals are enhanced, their importance in the administration of the drug is claimed, and the need to reinforce the patient’s adherence to treatment is defended.
In the same way, we are focused on the new Waiting List Plan, to which we are going to dedicate 65 million euros. And also in promoting screening, the oncology network, the network of advanced therapies, research, digitization, humanization, palliative care or chronic care, among other challenges.
Definitely, we want the patient to have solutions to their needs, so that they receive the best possible care. To this end, we will continue working to maintain the healthcare, technological and research leadership of the Community of Madrid.
To which is added our great commitment to direct the system’s resources towards health, instead of disease, firmly betting on prevention.
An objective for which we have all the agents of the Madrid Health Service.
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