Catalina García announces the creation of the Andalusian Strategy for Health Promotion and Prevention | Andalusian Health Service

The Minister of Health and Consumer Affairs of the Government of Andalusia, Catalina García, announced this Wednesday in the parliamentary health commission the creation of the Andalusian Strategy for Health Promotion and Prevention, on which she has been working for several months. As detailed, it implements an integrated approach to health and public health that will support research and facilitate the transfer of results.

“This Strategy not only provides an opportunity to integrate efforts made in the field of health promotion and disease prevention among all sectors and actors involved, it also provides an opportunity to implement a joint, proportionate and, above all, streamlined approach,” he noted, emphasizing, that this will be a “milestone” in the development of actions to improve quality of life.

Catalina García said that preventive health is one of the five pillars on which the new Andalusian health model is based, which is complemented by health promotion, attention to chronic diseases, humanization and research. Regarding prevention, he advocated education and information about the importance of a healthy lifestyle, since prevention is an everyday tool for human physical and mental development.

Prevention, including vaccines, screenings and activities aimed at emotional well-being. “All this should coexist harmoniously at different stages of our lives,” he added. Regarding vaccination, he emphasized that recent history has shown that this is the most effective way to prevent infectious diseases. For this reason, Andalusia has reportedly made unprecedented commitments to prevention: both in terms of the investments made and the breadth of the vaccine catalogue.

Thus, since 2018, expenses have increased by 180%, increasing from 42 million euros to 118 last year. By 2024, this figure will rise to 133 million. “It is this investment that allows Andalusia to have one of the most advanced vaccination schedules in the country, making us a benchmark in active prevention policies.” Here he recalled two major milestones in the 2023 vaccine catalog: immunization of children under 6 months of age against respiratory syncytial virus and human papillomavirus vaccine for 12-year-old boys, thereby filling the existing shortage of vaccines. equality between boys and girls in access to important preventive measures for various types of cancer.

In this sense, four important events have been identified for 2024: an increase in the risk groups for herpes zoster to the 65-year-old cohort; replacing the vaccination dose against meningococcus C with meningococcus ACWY in children 4 months old; an increase for the third consecutive year in the 20-valent conjugate pneumococcal cohort among adults aged 60 to 73 years who had not yet received either the 13-valent or the 20-valent; and switching to a single dose of human papillomavirus, aimed at systematically vaccinating 12-year-old boys and girls.

Vaccination coverage

On the other hand, he thanked, on the one hand, the responsibility and desire of Andalusians to protect themselves from viruses, and, on the other, the efforts of health workers to ensure timely campaigns, encouraging the population to get vaccinated. Thanks to all this, as he emphasized, the flu vaccine for children aged 6 to 59 months already in the second year of use covered 45.5% of the target population, that is, more than 131,300 children.

Likewise, 94% of the target population were immunized against respiratory syncytial virus. “Thanks to this exercise of parental responsibility, hospitalizations this year have dropped by 78% and intensive care unit admissions have dropped by 66%,” he said. Covid and flu vaccine coverage for people over 85 is 76% and for older people in care homes is 90%. In addition, 92% of available flu doses have already been received to immunize 1.8 million people; and 79% of Covid doses administered to 1.1 million people.

As for human papilloma, a record coverage rate of 93% was achieved in girls from 12 to 18 years old, and in the first year of vaccination in 12-year-old boys it already exceeded 80%, in percentage terms very similar. girls of the same age. Finally, more than 120,000 Andalusian babies have received the vaccine against meningococcus B. In this regard, he noted that since February this year Andalusia has vaccination points for international travel in all provinces. “In this way, we will put an end to the lack of equality between provinces by opening international vaccination sites in Jaén and Cordoba. Citizens will no longer have to travel outside their province for vaccination,” he added.

Cancer screening

During her speech, the consultant also spoke about cancer screening, the preventive measures of which are part of the Cancer Strategy of Andalusia, approved in 2021, for which the Ministry has allocated more than 50 million euros in the last three years.
For breast cancer screening, coverage was significantly expanded in the second half of 2023. If previously women aged 50 to 69 years were invited, now the test has been extended from 47 to 71 years. “And in the future we want to expand these tests from 40 to 75 years.”

In 2023, he said, more than 410,000 Andalusian women participated in the program, of whom 42,000 were referred to the hospital’s reference center for diagnostic testing, which identified 1,355 cases of cancer at an early stage of the disease. In particular, the Andalusian Health Service is promoting the improvement of diagnostic devices through the acquisition of 36 new tomosynthesis mammographs, four of which are in a new location.

These new mammographs will allow 45,000 additional tests to be performed than are already being performed. Together, the Breast Cancer Early Detection Program currently employs 72 mammographers, of whom 28 work in primary care settings, 37 work in hospital mammography machines, and seven work in mobile mammography units.

Regarding colon screening, he stressed that it has received an important “support” since the arrival of the current Andalusian government, as the coverage of the invitation to invitation has increased from 50% to almost 100%. “When we arrived in 2019, Andalusia was the only Spanish community that did not have colon screening of the population, and thanks to an investment of over 10 million euros, 2.3 million people were invited to take the test at home.”

About 1.2 million people, 51% of those invited, responded to the invitation to be screened for colon cancer by taking the test. Of these, 9,700 were recommended to undergo colonoscopy in 2023 to complete the study, which found cancer in more than 700 people. In total, more than 6,500 people were diagnosed with colon cancer in 2023.

Regarding lung screening, Andalusia, through the Virgen Macarena Hospital in Seville and the Northern Health District of Aljarafe-Seville, is participating in the Cassandra project for lung cancer screening using low-dose CT. Regarding cervical cancer screening, he insisted that 2024 will mark a new milestone in screening programs in Andalusia, as population-based cervical cancer screening will be included in July for all women aged 25 to 65 years.

Prevention of emotional well-being

Finally, Catalina Garcia emphasized mental health issues. And the fact is that about half of mental health problems begin before age 14, and more than 70% begin before age 18. and suicidal behavior or thoughts. Training that was carried out in 2023 and will be expanded in 2024.

Regarding the attention to adolescence in Andalusia, Catalina García also recalled the important steps taken in recent years. “When we arrived in Andalusia, differentiated care for adults and minors in short-term psychiatric hospitalization units only existed in Jaen and Almeria. And it was vital to expand it to the rest of the provinces to offer quality care and ensure that these patients receive decent care,” he concluded.