Madrid (EFE).- More investment and guarantees of access to universal health are some of the claims that associations and entities make on the occasion of World Health Day, which celebrates 75 years, claiming to be aware of diseases, create healthy habits and pursue universal and equitable access to health resources.
On the occasion of this day that is celebrated today, coinciding with the anniversary of the founding of the World Health Organization (WHO), the Federation of Associations in Defense of Public Health assures that one cannot speak of this event without linking it to the right to health care and accessibility of the public to health.
“In Spain we have experienced a series of successive dismantling and privatizations of Public Health,” laments this organization, which stresses that public investment is below the average for European countries.
Waiting lists and job insecurity are two problems that the association asks to address with more funding and with the end of privatizations “recovering the privatized”, among other measures.
“Health for all” is this year’s motto, a demand that is related to what the Spanish Federation for Rare Diseases (FEDER) usually calls for: “Guaranteeing Universal Health Coverage means guaranteeing access to diagnosis and treatment for all people, including those who live with rare diseases”.
Because the organization points out that, although great progress has been made in this area, people with rare diseases and without a diagnosis suffer from a lack of equity in access to the resources available inside and outside Spain.
The Collegiate Pharmaceutical Organization, for its part, has valued what has been achieved in this time. Life expectancy in the world has gone from 46.5 years in 1950 to 71.7 years in 2022, and in Spain it has increased from 62.1 years to 83.3.
Pharmacists point out that Spain faces challenges such as public health, chronicity, aging, depopulation or mental health, along with the very sustainability of the National Health System.
The UGT union, for its part, has called for a strong National Health System, with more and sufficient funding, which guarantees resources to publicly managed health centers and redirects spending towards health promotion, prevention and protection policies.
According to the union, it is essential to take care of Primary Care since it is the gateway to the National Health System, and resolves 80 or 90% of the cases that come to it, although it faces the challenges of having an increasingly large population. aging, a growing percentage of chronic patients and other effects such as climate change.
Other types of organizations such as the Spanish Association of Foundations or the Association of Health Informants, AEF and ANIS, have committed themselves to obtaining professional and truthful information on health and healthy living environments that can transform people’s lives.
These two entities remember that the celebration of the World Day is an opportunity to remember and recognize the successes that have improved the quality of life during the last seven decades.
