The health professional associations today sent the Prime Minister a set of proposals to improve the current context of Human, Animal and Environmental Health, pointing to disease prevention, health professionals and primary care as priorities.
In a missive sent to Luís Montenegro on World Health Day, in an unprecedented initiative, nine professional associations drew up a document that is the result of joint reflection, based on a shared vision and consensus for a future of “One Health”.
Health promotion and disease prevention, greater investment in health literacy and mental health and valuing health professionals are some of the measures put forward in the document, signed by the medical, nursing, pharmaceutical, dental, psychological, veterinary, nutritionist, physiotherapist and biologist associations.
“We felt that there were points of convergence and one of them precisely has to do with the idea of ‘One Health’, which brings together all the professional associations here because it includes human health, which concerns most of the associations in this group, but also animal health and environmental and climate health,” Carlos Cortes, president of the Portuguese Medical Association, told Lusa.
He also said that the intention is to show, on World Health Day and “at a time when the country is going through”, that united they can go further and that they are available “to help the government”.
“This is a positive document, which, on the one hand, outlines some problems, also outlines a path and makes these orders available to support the government in the measures it will have to implement, which will have to follow those axes we have outlined, namely in the area of health literacy, promotion, prevention and respect for health professionals, for their just demands and career expectations,” he added.
In the document, to which Lusa has had access, these professionals recognize and value “the continuous efforts to improve health and the well-being of citizens”, but say that they continue “with concern” to observe “problems of organization and under-budgeting that translate into the maintenance of social and territorial inequalities in access to care”.
“The response models are still bureaucratized, sometimes not dematerialized and poorly integrated, with a scarce and dissatisfied workforce, with the closure of services and waiting times that do not guarantee rapid or timely health responses, and a number of critical areas with unmet needs,” they write, considering that this scenario “compromises equitable and universal access to health care, only possible by guaranteeing the sustainability and effectiveness of the SNS [National Health Service].”
The professionals also consider it urgent to make health promotion and disease prevention “a top strategic priority”, with specific measures and programs aimed at promoting healthy lifestyles and the self-regulated management of chronic diseases, as well as promoting health literacy, including animal health, with awareness-raising campaigns involving professionals from different areas.
Providing health services with “sufficient numbers of competent professionals to respond with quality and efficiency”, developing strategies to attract, motivate and retain professionals is another priority.
The professional associations also defend the urgent need to value health professionals, promoting their participation in the management and organization of health structures and creating conditions that facilitate career progression and settlement in areas where they are most needed.
They also call for urgent investment in Public Health and Mental Health, increasing the number of professionals in Primary Health Care and their presence in multidisciplinary teams.
In the area of animal health, there is an urgent need to provide the General Directorate of Food and Veterinary with the appropriate means, “enabling the creation of a national plan to control stray animals”.
They also want to promote investment, innovation and research in health, strengthen the integration of health with other areas of government action, “particularly considering the impacts of social, labor or environmental issues on public health”.
Finally, they consider it urgent to integrate new technologies that can contribute to the effectiveness and efficiency of the National Health Service, namely by investing in the digitalization of processes and Digital Health solutions, as well as greater budgets for transversal health promotion and preventive health programs.
