The new Andalusian strategy for health promotion and prevention focuses on an integrated approach to improving the quality of life.

Minister of Health and Consumer Affairs of the Government of Andalusia, Catalina Garciaannounced preparations Andalusian Strategy for Health Promotion and Prevention which we worked on for several months. It is designed to solve A complex approach public health will promote research and facilitate the transfer of results To improve the quality of life.

“This Strategy not only provides an opportunity to integrate efforts to promote health and control disease across all sectors and actors involved, it also provides an opportunity to implement a collaborative, proportionate and, above all, disciplined approach,” he said. noted, emphasizing that this would be a “milestone” in the development of actions to improve the quality of life.

Garcia stated that Prevention is one of the five pillars on which the new healthcare model is based. Andalusia, which promotes health, attention to chronic diseases, humanization and research. Regarding prevention, he advocated education and information about the importance of taking healthy lifestyleas an everyday tool for human physical and mental development.

Prevention includes vaccines, screenings and activities for 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, he recalled that Andalusia has made an unprecedented commitment to prevention, both in terms of the investments made and the breadth of the vaccine catalog.

Thus, since 2018, expenses have increased by 180%, increasing from 42 million euros to 118 last year, and by 2024 will rise to 133 million. “It is these investments that allow Andalusia

dispose of one of the most advanced vaccination schedules in the countryAt this point, he named two important milestones in the vaccine catalog over the past year: immunization of children under 6 months of age against respiratory syncytial virus and a vaccine against human papillomavirus. for 12-year-old boys, thereby eliminating inequalities between boys and girls in access to important preventive measures for various types of cancer.

In this sense, this year marked four important events: an increase in the risk group for herpes zoster up to 65 years of age, and a replacement of the vaccination dose against meningococcus C with meningococcus ACWY for 4-month-old children. ., expanding for the third year in a row a cohort of 20-valent pneumococcal conjugates for adults aged 60 to 73 years who have not yet received either a 13-valent or a 20-valent drug, and switching to a single dose of human papillomavirus pneumococcal virus, aimed at systematic vaccination of boys and girls aged 12 years.

Vaccination coverage

On the other hand, the Minister of Health thanked Andalusians for their responsibility and commitment to protect themselves from viruses, as well as for the efforts of health workers to ensure timely campaigns, encouraging the population to vaccinate. Thanks to all this, as was emphasized, Influenza coverage among children aged 6 to 59 months has reached Already in the second year of his reign 45.5% of target populationmore than 131,300 children.

Besides, 94% of the target population are 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. For vaccines against covid and flu, coverage for people over 85 is 76% and 90% for older people living in nursing homes. In addition, 92% of available flu doses have already been administered to immunize 1.8 million people, and 79% of Covid doses have been administered to 1.1 million people.

WITH As for the human papillomavirus, a record coverage rate of 93% was achieved in girls aged 12 to 18 years.and in the first year of vaccination For 12-year-old boys, 80% has already been exceeded., achieving a percentage very similar to that of girls of the same age. Finally, more than 120,000 Andalusian infants have received the meningococcal B vaccine.

In this regard, he emphasized that since February of this month Andalusia vaccination sites 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 to get vaccinated,” he added.

Cancer screening

Catalina Garcia also mentioned cancer screening, of which preventive measures are part Cancer control strategy in Andalusiaapproved in 2021, for which the Ministry has allocated more than 50 million euros in the last three years.

Concerning breast cancer screeningcoverage expanded significantly in the second half of 2023. If you previously invited women from 50 to 69 years old, try has now increased from 47 to 71 years.. “In the future, we want to expand these tests from 40 to 75 years.”

In 2023, more than 410,000 Andalusian women participated in this program, of whom 42,000 were referred to their reference hospital centers for diagnostic testing, which allowed the detection of 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 research those that were carried out. Together with them, the Early Detection of Breast Cancer Program was implemented. 72 mammogramsof which 28 work in primary care settings, 37 are hospital mammography units, and seven work in mobile mammography units.

For colon screeningthe adviser stressed that this plan has received important “support” since the arrival of the current Andalusian government, as the coverage of the 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 more than 10 million euros, 2.3 million people were invited to take a test at home“.

Nearly 1.2 million people (51%) responded to the invitation to undergo colon cancer screening. Of those, 9,700 were recommended to undergo colonoscopy last year to complete the test, which found cancer in more than 700 people. In total, more than 6,500 people were diagnosed with colon cancer in 2023.

When lung screeningAndalusia, through the Virgen Macarena University Hospital of Seville and the Northern Medical District of Aljarafe-Seville, is participating in Cassandra project Lung cancer screening using low-dose CT. Regarding screening cervical cancerGarcia insisted that this year will mark a new milestone as next July population-based screening for all women aged 25 to 65 years.

Prevention of emotional well-being

Finally, the Minister of Health emphasized mental health issues. About half of them appear before age 14, and more than 70% begin before age 18. For this reason, the Ministry proposed education during 2023, which will be extended this year, to the school nurse’s recommendations to discover during signs of mental disorders, suicidal behavior or thoughts.

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