According to the World Organization for Health (WHO), at least 3.6 billion people in the world, that is, half of the world’s population, still do not enjoy full coverage of health services. Health essential.
Expand interventions in primary care in low- and middle-income countries could save 60 million lives and increase life expectancy by 3.7 years by 2030.
The primary care services could be defined as the commitment to social justice, equity, solidarity and participation based on the recognition that the enjoyment of the maximum degree of Health that can be achieved is one of the fundamental rights of every human being without distinction of race, religion, political ideology or economic or social condition.
Within the framework of Roche Press Dayan initiative that brought together journalists and authorities from Health from Latin America, Free Daily talked with liliana la rosaformer Minister of Development and Social Inclusion of Peru, who explained the importance of a model of primary care that is robust and efficient.
“All the studies indicate that the first level of attention, which are the posts and centers of Health closest to the house (of the patients), in these services 80% of the (medical) problems must be solved”, pointed out the university professor specialized in public policies.
“There you must learn to take care of yourself, how your skin, your body, your organs work, how is your blood pressure, how to stimulate the growth and development of children, how to care for the elderly. That is the promotional space of the Health”, he added.
Prevent instead of treat
La Rosa indicated that the work of these centers should be focused on “health prevention, detect damage”.
He cited the example of a breast self-exam. “If in your monthly examination you detect something abnormal, that service Health It should guarantee your mammography, your attention to rule out any possibility of a tumor and for that, mammographers must be installed, depending on the budget you have and the size of the population, you can even have mobile mammographers,” he said.
If an anomaly is detected at the first level, then the patient is passed on to the second level and to the third if he requires rigorously specialized care.
With this simple action, patients would have access to timely diagnosis and better life expectancy.
“In this way, people have access to a right that is fundamental,” he stated, referring to the right to Health. “It is at that first level where they should have detected it,” insists La Rosa.
Most breast cancer diagnoses in Latin America are made at an advanced stage. “When it is identified, there is not much to do and that is why the deaths continue to be so brutal,” highlights the former dean of the College of Nurses of Peru.
Another function of the primary centers that La Rosa points out is that these should be the spaces where, once the chemotherapy process has begun, the patient is treated for pain, inflammation or small wounds. As well as providing support for emotional stability with the patient’s network of friends and family.
Similarly, the staff of these centers must be trained in the palliative care of patients in the metastatic stage, trying to extend their life as much as possible and prevent them from dying in pain or alone.
“Primary care is basic and fundamental. The first level of care is the most neglected in the entire continent”Former Minister of Development and Social Inclusion of Peru
La Rosa understands that the fight for quality care system services belongs to the entire population.
“Health has been linked to disease, not prevention. We have focused on treating the disease and not on preventing, protecting and anticipating it. We all know that it is more expensive to get sick than to prevent it, but no one invests in prevention. This is the right time, after having come out of the pandemic, to put all our emphasis on preventing damage, preventing death and preventing complications, ”he pointed out.
Lack investment
The former official understands that the ministries, especially in Latin countries, have not invested enough because their policies are focused on treatment and have not focused on what is essential: prevention.
“We continue to invest the same as 100 years ago. affect (in prevention) 1% of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in each country would increase life expectancy by three years,” said La Rosa.
“The first level must educate the patient, detect, monitor and prevent further damage,” he summarized.
La Rosa participated in the panel “Women and Politics: The gender perspective and the role of women in the development of health policies”, where she spoke about how the culture of patriarchy prevents women from having full access to the Health and occupy important positions within decision-making.
“Patriarchalism in Latin America is evident in the fact that women do not own our own bodies, since there are still men preventing their partners from having a cytology or a mammogram because no one other than them can see their bodies,” she said.
“That is a reality. Those of us who have had the privilege of education forget that the majority of women live without their rights being protected, such as that of Health. In addition, we have a patriarchal health system, little dependent on humanity and care. In addition, in the world only two nurses have managed to be ministers of Healthbeing them the backbone of the health system,” said the nurse.
Finally, he called on women to prioritize self-care because as family caregivers they are excellent, although sometimes they neglect their own Health.
“We need to take care of ourselves to take care of others,” he petitioned.
