Scientist censored in the Assembly by the PP of Ayuso: “If you don’t think like them, they will veto you” | Madrid News

The scientist banned by the PP from the Madrid Assembly comes to the interview this Tuesday with three studies of her authorship. María Victoria Zunzunegui (Bogotá, 72 years old) sits at a bar table in Retiro Park and starts talking about them while turning them over. He has nothing to do with the PP or the Madrid president. They were published more than two decades ago, when student Isabel Díaz Ayuso had not yet begun her political career. They are about aging well, the specialty to which Zunzunegui has dedicated his life. She orders a latte but forgets the drink. The reason for the appointment is that the previous afternoon it became known that the Popular Group in the Assembly had refused her presence as an expert requested by MAS Madrid, but for a long time she had avoided the matter. He enthusiastically summarizes his findings on how loneliness affects dementia or how poverty during childhood predicts the pace of aging. After 20 minutes, she gets into the issue that has turned her into a hero against her will: “Why am I telling you all this? Because I want you to see that I am a research professional. I am a scientist. I am not a politician. “I want to be useful in improving the living conditions of the elderly in Madrid.”

On Friday, Zunzunegui received a call from MAS Madrid deputy Alodia Pérez. He informed him that his name had been proposed to appear before the 17 MPs of the Parliamentary Committee on Family and Social Affairs. Such visits by members of civil society to the Regional Chamber are frequent. Associations. Unions, employers or academics usually testify for 15 minutes and then answer questions. The popular group decided this Monday to ban Zunzunegui, recalling that she was one of the seven members of the Citizens’ Commission for Truth in Madrid residences. This group of experts, gathered at the request of associations of victims’ families, published on March 15 this year a scathing report on the Ayuso government’s management during March and April 2020, when 7,291 people died in nursing homes.

Nothing is said about this report that prompted the invitation in the Más Madrid letter, which indicates that its purpose was for the epidemiologist to report “on the measures needed to mitigate the impact of the epidemiological outbreak in the nursing home.” But the PP spokesman, Carlos Díaz-Pache, responded that he suspected fraud because the citizens’ commission in which Zunzunegui participated “is an unrecognized entity” and its reports “attempt to monitor the action of the previous legislature.” Más Madrid representative Emilia Sánchez responds that the reason for this “preventive censorship” is unprecedented. “This is the first case of democracy,” he says. “In parliament we talk about public affairs and if you don’t like it, you prepare your arguments, but don’t veto them.”

In addition to participating in that commission, Zunzunegui holds a doctorate in epidemiology from the University of California and is a professor emeritus from the School of Public Health of the University of Montreal.

Ask. What would you like to say to the MPs?

Answer. I may have told you about two axes. On the one hand, there is a need to limit the dependency business, because the problem with public-private partnerships is that it works through contracts with companies whose main mission is profit. We can’t blame companies for this because this is the reason for their existence. But the Madrid government must award contracts with sufficient economic allocation to maintain the quality of services. Doesn’t happen like this. Contracts are won by the companies with the lowest budgets and without quality control. The victim is an elderly person.

What affects us most is what happens closest. So you don’t miss anything, subscribe.

subscribe

On the other hand, I would have stressed the need to establish indicators of quality of care. We are missing a lot of data. How many people die in nursing homes? How many people suffer from urinary infections, falls, ulcers…? When we have all this we will know where we failed.

Why. And why has he vetoed it?

R. To be honest, I don’t know. I guess it’s out of habit now. If you don’t think so they will veto you. I am a leftist person. This is not a secret. But I have morals and I am not a fundamentalist. I speak with data, data taken from the Transparency Portal of the Community of Madrid.

Why. Have you participated in leftist politics?

R. no way. I am not a politician. I am a scientist. I’ve always worked with data. The thing is, I’ve spent my whole life researching social issues that they don’t like: feminism, immigration, poverty, gender violence, poverty or children. These are topics that I always think about scientifically. I am a quantitative person and what I ask of the Community of Madrid is that if they do not like my research on their residences, they use the data to see if they reach different conclusions . This is the scientific method. But all these people disqualify.

Why. Have they attacked him?

R. When we published the Citizens Commission report, an article appeared ok diary Having said that, four or five years ago I went to the Podemos headquarters in Torrejón. I was there to talk about universality and equity in the national health system. I never decline any invitation. Vox has never invited me, but very diverse people have, for example senior sector employers.

Why. You know the data from the first wave very well. One of the statistics that Ayuso’s defenders commonly use shows that the greatest destruction occurred in residences in Aragon and that the media hide this information to damage the president. He says that in Aragon 90% of all deaths over the age of 65 lived in residences, while in Madrid only 45% did.

R. I know that statistic well and it is misleading. I, who devote myself to data, see how they play with numbers. Imagine that only ten people in one area die and nine people in one residence do so. You would have a very high figure of 90% which would make you think of a major disaster, while a very low figure for Madrid could give the false impression that the problem is under control.

This information tells us the location where people died. In Madrid many people died inside homes, but also outside them. This may be because the virus has spread within the general population. In Aragon, by contrast, the virus was well controlled in the general population and, therefore, the proportion of deaths within residences was higher.

However, the most important thing is to know what the risk of dying was for the person living in the residence. This is obtained by dividing the number of deaths of people living in residences in Madrid (9,470 if we include hospital deaths) by the total number of people estimated to live in these centers (44,000). One in five residents here lost their lives in March and April 2020 alone, far more than any other region.

Why. But normal people see something like this on Twitter and fall into the trap.

R. My suggestion is that you look carefully at what is at the top in the numerator and what is at the bottom in the denominator. This way they don’t fool you.

Why. What is going to happen from the Citizens Commission report?

R. The family members are distributing it to all the officials. The King, the Ombudsman, all groups of the Congress of Deputies and the Assembly of Madrid, the Office of the State Attorney General and the Office of the Mayor of Madrid. Now we are waiting for answers.

Why. Why are the families’ legal cases not moving forward?

R. I think judges have taken a relaxed attitude. The topic does not inspire much sympathy and they see that it is complicated because they will have to review medical records, interview workers, doctors, know who gave the order…

Why. How will this matter end?

R. I think a lot of people are committed. The families are demanding justice and we are committed to ensuring that we find out what happened as it is important to right the wrongs and prepare for the future. Housing today is the same as before the pandemic or worse. Everyone will tell you. The deaths of thousands of people have not resulted in improvements in housing. Only by recognizing our mistakes can we think about fixing things. For me, this is the basis of this entire fight.

Write to the author here fpeinado@elpais.es one of two fernandopeinado@protonmail.com

Subscribe here For our newsletter about Madrid, published every Tuesday and Friday.

,