The Minister of Health, Carla Vizzotti, led this Monday morning, in the Chubut city of Puerto Madryn, a new meeting of the Federal Health Council (Cofesa), which convenes the heads of the health area of each province, to coordinate actions related to the new vaccination campaign, dengue and chagas, monkeypox and outbreak of Legionella.
Also on the agenda was the combined strategy on HIV, Sexually Transmitted Infections (STIs) and Viral Hepatitis, and actions for the prevention of mother-to-child transmission within the 1,000-day Plan for Comprehensive Health Care and Attention during Pregnancy and Early Childhood, and the Genomic Networkit was officially reported.
At the close of the inauguration of the meeting, the minister delivered 76 computers out of a total of 153 intended for health agents in the province.
Vizzotti indicated that “It is an example of what we have been doing since day one with the conviction that it is the best way to work to build health collectively”.
The minister also referred to the recent incorporation of the former Minister of Health of Chubut, Fabián Puratich, as the new Undersecretary of Integration of the Health System and Primary Care of the national health portfolio, and of the new director of Control of Communicable Diseases, the Chubut Theresa Star.
“Our Cabinet reflects federalism and gender parity, so that conviction is not a word but concrete actions,” he said.
He asked to continue “on the path of building collectively, with joint work between the Nation, Province and Municipalities as requested by the World Health Organization (WHO)”.
Vizzotti had anticipated that they will work on “exchanging information on communicable diseases” and also “we will address the outbreak of Legionella in Tucumán to share information with each of you,” he said.
Regarding the outbreak of Legionella, he assured that the “It was detected in a clinic in Tucumán, it is circumscribed, there are no possibilities of transfer to the rest of the country because it is not transmitted from person to person, not even to the city where it was detected.“.
Regarding communicable diseases, he emphasized the vaccination campaign that will begin in October against measles, rubella, mumps and polio.
“We are also working on viral hepatitis, with dengue preventing the proximity of summer and also with the prevention and control of vector-borne Chagas,” he said.
The minister also described that they are “working very hard on the regulation of the HIV and sexual transmission law, so we must all unify the discourse to promote the use of condoms to avoid diseases such as syphilis and gonococcus” (Neisseria gonorrhoeae).
He recalled that “vertical transmission diseases, if they can be diagnosed in time, the possibility of evolution is totally different.”
Regarding the coronavirus, he said that “There are low numbers linked to seasonality, but the concept should not be confused because the vaccine does not eliminate the virus, but it does translate into fewer hospitalizations and deaths”.
other voices
For his part, the Governor of Chubut, Mariano Arcioni, stated that “when one sees the presence and concurrence of all of you, it values and takes dimension of what is the relevance of an area where consensus is discussed, consensus is sought and public health policies are planned that have repercussions in each and every one of the provinces”.
At the meeting, which was held at the Rayentray hotel, the president, accompanied by the Minister of Health of this district, Miryam Monasterolo, shared that “since 2006 there has not been a Cofesa in the province of Chubut”.
After the opening, the Undersecretary of Health Strategies, Juan Manuel Castelli, gave details of the next National Follow-up Campaign against measles, rubella, mumps and polio that will take place between October 1 and November 13 in order to to support the elimination of these diseases in the country through the application of triple viral and inactivated injectable polio vaccines (IPV).
The campaign is aimed at girls and boys from 13 months to 4 years, 11 months and 29 days and the purpose is to achieve coverage of 95% more with a dose of triple viral vaccine and one of IPV in all jurisdictions. For this, as of September 9, the Nation has already distributed 1,159,200 doses of triple viral vaccine and 1,451,800 of IPV.
In turn, Strella presented the work for integrated management aimed at reaching and sustaining mother-to-child transmission of syphilis, Chagas, HIV and hepatitis B and indicated that it is the inclusion of the EMTCT Plus initiative of the Pan American Health Organization (OPS) within the framework of the 1000 Days Law.
He affirmed that one of the main purposes is to reach the first level of care in a comprehensive approach in the different stages of pre-pregnancy, pregnancy and childbirth care and those after birth.
Regarding HIV, Vizzotti called for the formation of working groups with the different jurisdictional departments in charge of the issue for the development of an articulated and comprehensive plan.
Finally, as part of the strategies to address communicable diseases, Castelli presented the priority axes for 2022-2023 by the Directorate for the Control of Vector-Borne Diseases (DCETV) for the control of Chagas and dengue.
He explained that in the provinces where the vector is present, a policy of territorial approach for the prevention and control of Chagas is permanently maintained, adding that the technical teams worked in more than 100,000 homes between 2020 and 2022.
According to the organizers, the meeting was attended by the Minister of Health of Buenos Aires, Nicolás Kreplak; from Catamarca, Manuela Ávila; from the city of Buenos Aires, Fernán Quirós; from Córdoba, María Gabriela Barbás; from Corrientes, Ricardo Cardozo; from Chaco, Carolina Paola Centeno, and from Entre Ríos, Sonia Velázquez, among others.
