The Council of Ministers gives the green light to 68 million euros for the oral plan and the State Public Health Surveillance Network

Today the Council of Ministers has given the green light to several health issues. Mónica García, the Minister of Health, pointed out in the subsequent press conference that “these are various regulations that serve to strengthen the SNS.” On the one hand, she has reported the approval of the bill by which they are modified various regulations to consolidate the equity and cohesion of the National Health System (SNS). The legislative initiative aims to establish measures that guarantee equality in access to health and strengthen cooperation between different health structures to address current and future challenges.

The Bill introduces the obligation to evaluate the impact on health and its determinants in the Regulatory Impact Analysis Reports (MAIN) of all regulations that affect key sectors such as housing, education, environment, transportation, among others. Here García has emphasized one of the concepts that his ministry has mentioned on more than one occasion, which are “The determinants of health”. And this will be done through the following axes:

• Through the Health Impact Analysis The obligation to evaluate the impact on health and its determinants is introduced in the Regulatory Impact Analysis Reports (MAIN) of all regulations that affect key sectors such as housing, education, environment, transportation, among others.
• A permanent advisory body is created, the “Open Health Forum”which will incorporate the voice of patients, people with disabilities, citizens and professionals to formulate proposals on the operation of the SNS. “We need to listen to patients. This covers a demand that has been going on for years,” she says.
• Assistance Guarantee Fund (FOGA)the regulations are modified to develop regulations for compensation rules for the movement of patients in the national territory.
• Homogenization of exemptions: User contribution exemptions in pharmaceutical and orthoprosthetic benefits are equalized.
• Consortium of the Spanish Network of Health Technology Assessment Agencies: Its creation is authorized to strengthen evaluation and leadership capacity in national and international projects.
• Access and processing of health data: The general conditions are established for the access and processing of data in the healthcare field for planning, management, evaluation and research purposes.

More than 900 new places for medical students

The Minister of Health has also reported that they have expanded the financial envelope for the expansion of university places intended for the degree of Medicine. Last year I already They added 626 places and for next year “grows up to 900“García noted.

“With this modification of places for medical students we are launching a tool to alleviate the lack of doctors in our country. The Government of Spain, through an economic item, contemplates one of the multilateral measures to address this circumstance”, he explained why these also go hand in hand with the “expansion of specialized training places (MIR) that this government has done in recent years”.

Approval of the State Public Health Surveillance Network

The Council has also given the green light to the Royal Decree creating the State Public Health Surveillance Networkwhich includes the Early Warning and Rapid Response System. In addition, the functions and process to designate the National Reference Laboratories that will collaborate with this Network are defined.

In the subsequent press conference, García wanted to recognize the work of Fernando Simón, director of the Health Alerts and Emergencies Coordination Center of the Ministry of Health (CCAES), “he has carried out conscientious work.” And he added that this is a royal decree that “we have had pending since 2011, the public health law required this extension.”

Because the new framework of action will allow “better data collection, analysis, precise and real to carry out processes and have an early 24-hour response system. Always everything based on data,” explained the minister.

The creation of the State Public Health Surveillance Networkestablished in this royal decree, is part of the Public Health Surveillance Strategy approved on June 15, 2022. Its main objective is to provide relevant and timely information to health professionals, the National Health System (SNS) and citizens in general. To this end, it expands the scope of public health surveillance, covering not only communicable diseases, but also other factors that influence the well-being, morbidity and mortality of the population.

The network will have, in principle, five surveillance systems. The Executive reserves the right to increase its number at the proposal of the Network Management Committee and following a report from the Public Health Commission.

1. Surveillance systems non-communicable diseases (which will include the Cancer Surveillance System).
2. Surveillance System Communicable Diseases (including antimicrobial resistance and healthcare-associated infections).
3. Surveillance System in Occupational Health.
4. Surveillance System in Enviromental health.
5. System of Early Warning and Rapid Response: The objective is to guarantee early detection and a rapid, timely and coordinated response to threats that pose or may pose a risk to the health of the population at a national or international level.

Any event subject to surveillance will be communicated to the Early Warning and Rapid Response System, within a period of less than 24 hours from its identification, certain events that may constitute a public health risk at a national or international level (for example, any incident of type catastrophic event that affects or may affect the health of a community).

It also establishes the National Laboratory Network, the royal decree also contemplates the designation process and the functions of the National Laboratories for the network. Laboratories must guarantee compliance, in their specific area, with the requirements established for each surveillance system and specifically in their protocols, working in coordination with the central unit and with the autonomous units of the corresponding surveillance system.

The creation of Vaccination and Immunization Information System dependent on the Ministry of Health, it will have the purpose of collecting information on vaccinations and immunizations of all people residing in Spain, whose operation will be carried out according to regulations. The health administrations of the autonomous communities and cities of Ceuta and Melilla, as well as the Ministry of Health and the Ministry of Defense, will be obliged within the scope of their powers to provide the information contained in said system.

Provision for the expansion of the oral services portfolio

In the list of health issues of the Council of Ministers, the green light has also been given to the distribution of 68 million euros to the Autonomous Communities to expand the oral health portfolio. García commented that this is a new item that “the Government of Spain grants to the CCAA.” Furthermore, he pointed out that “today it coincides with the BOE regulating the expansion and covering a historic demand.”

Since the launch of this plan, in 2022, with Carolina Darias at the head of the portfolio, and including the amount allocated in these budgets, the communities have had a total investment of 180 million euros.

He Oral Health Plan aims to achieve a double objective. On the one hand, homogenize oral health care services in the national territory, “guaranteeing equity in access, regardless of place of residence,” the minister noted.

And, on the other hand, increase common services that, until now, were not provided by public health, with a fundamentally preventive approach and “prioritizing the following groups where investment in health is evident: children and adolescents, pregnant women, people with disabilities and people with cancer, specifically those people diagnosed with oncological processes of the cervicofacial territory,” García explained.

From the Ministry of Health, the x-ray of this plan in 2023 shows that the CCAA have executed 84.5% of the budget, 57.5 million euros in committed spending: more than 1.1 million children from 0 to 14 years of age served (23.33% coverage); 111,755 pregnant women served (34.07% coverage, an increase of 2.42 points compared to 2022).

He aim of the Plan for fiscal year 2024 is to incorporate the ppublic dental restorations and following preventive measures:

• The entire population will be offered individualized health information and recommendations on basic hygiene and dietary measures necessary to achieve and maintain oral health; dental advice; treatment of acute dental processes; pharmacological treatment of oral pathology that requires it; extractions, surgical extractions and minor surgery of the oral cavity; early detection of premalignant lesions and, where appropriate, biopsy of mucosal lesions.
• Additionally, in the case of the children and adolescents and people over 14 years of age with disabilities intellectual or with a disability that limits the mobility of the upper limbs, periodic reviews are included; preventive treatments such as tartrectomies, application of remineralizing, antiseptic and desensitizing substances, sealing of pits and fissures; and also, restorative actions such as fillings in injuries that do not associate irreversible pulp damage, pulp treatments and the relocation, stabilization and splinting of permanent incisor and canine teeth in case of trauma.
• In the case of people who present severe behavioral alterations and who are not able to maintain the necessary self-control that allows adequate attention to your oral health, the provision of services will be guaranteed through the corresponding sedative treatment or general anesthesia.
• For the pregnant women and people diagnosed with oncological processes of the cervicofacial territory, clinical examination is also contemplated, as well as, when indicated, tartrectomy and application of remineralizing, antiseptic and/or desensitizing substances.