Integrating science, innovation and responsibility – Observer

Health is usually defined as a state of complete physical, mental, social, and existential well-being, not merely the absence of illness or disease. It's a concept we recognize easily, even if it's not easy to understand. It involves a broad view of health, which, although attractive, can be difficult to achieve. In practical terms, we can be healthy, despite the diseases and problems we face on a daily basis and which we consider relative to our continued ability to adapt.

Accepting the principle, the discussion of collectivism would not differ much. The healthcare system must be universal in the way it targets people, how it provides them with necessary access, how it accompanies them over time, and how it helps them find their own paths.

Unfortunately, we often notice that the system focuses more on itself, focusing on the problems it identifies in its field of activity. Creates or maintains outdated services and processes that do not meet people's current needs, with goals that are far from reality and defines strategies that become goals in themselves, without real impact.

And above all we see A patriarchal system, where outcomes are valued that are more explanatory than resolving To the extent that they imposed on themselves.

What concerns us is the solution to the surgery waiting list If all patients were called in at the last minute and due to the impossibility of scheduling, they had to refuse treatment that should have been scheduled at the appropriate time?

Or how access to emergency services is conditional Without creating the initial and final conditions to provide the most appropriate service for each case?

Or what is the goal of structural integration of local units? If services continue to refuse referrals based on regulatory issues?

We have a continuous care network that serves social hospitalization, but not the community. We have primary care mired in an obsession with assigning doctors to citizens without paying attention to specific tasks. We have poor access to public services which forces families to complete their health plan and in private systems, we have duplication of hospital services without… Framing local regional needs or effective inter-institutional organization, among many other aspects that require a different outlook on health.

In the context of population aging, declining birth rates, and a general increase in… pressureWith the associated anxiety and depression, the increase in obesity and chronic non-communicable diseases, the presence of harmful environmental factors such as pollution and prolonged drought and the financial pressure on health care costs, it is important to act rather than react, to repair rather than patch, to build rather than to repair.

We must respond to the situation, forecast short-, medium- and long-term goals, and be consistent in their planning, decision-making and implementation. To achieve this, we need to be rigorous in assessment, systematic in analysis, innovative in solutions, and ethical in practice.

There are two aspects that stand out.

First: excellence, which is the search for quality It is based on the application of the best scientific evidence identified at all times, filtered through the experiences of professionals and institutions, and people's values, ideas and expectations. This evidence-based medicine views operating costs as an investment and generates value. Healthy people are more productive and happier, resulting in a greater return on invested resources. It focuses on the person and their health needs and challenges professional profiles to find collaborative ways of working, complementing each other in roles in which they differ, whether at clinical, managerial or managerial level.

The other aspect leads us to individual responsibility. We accept that health is a universal right of citizenship that rests fundamentally on the duty to defend and promote it. However, we are easily tempted to live up to the privilege and forget the commitment inherent in it. In fact, the main factor of health is the person himself in the choices he makes throughout his life, in the lifestyles he prefers, in the way he uses health services, in the choice to adhere to diagnostic and treatment processes, and in the requirements. It establishes public or private regulatory regimes.

We call it literacy and it corresponds to the ability to obtain, process and understand basic information about health and available services in order to freely choose the best option. If one did not know that tobacco was responsible for 14% of global deaths, accounting for nearly 8 million deaths in 2019, one might be tempted to start or maintain a smoking habit. But this data is real and we still have over a billion people who smoke regularly.

Therefore, knowledge is not enough, but it is necessary to activate this knowledge in attitudes and skills towards health. Here we are all called to action. Health professionals and the services in which they work naturally play an important role as bearers of reliable and useful information, but they are not the only actors at this stage. We need to engage the whole of society in health promotion, including actions in areas such as education, employment, justice, security and even in our homes. We all have a right to health, but we also have a responsibility to promote and defend it. This concerted anti-smoking action has led to a decline in the number of smokers and the total burden of smoking in Europe, with an already clear impact on the prevalence of cardiovascular and respiratory diseases.

In 2023, the TOP Health Awards were launched, in recognition of the importance of innovation and good practices in the health sector, On the basis of cooperation between various fields and agents, to promote development in the field of health. In the first edition, more than 150 applications competed in the four categories of health literacy, healthcare integration, technology and data in the service of health and social sustainability, an example of the dynamism of the sector to meet current and future challenges, and to create value in the field of health. Health and contributing to achieving better results.

Innovation means understanding the current context, its strengths and limitations, and adapting structures and processes to improve health outcomes. We want a truly citizen-oriented health system, where people and professionals from all fields work collaboratively, adapt procedures to the real world, and innovate in solving concrete problems. It is necessary to evaluate outcomes through objective quality indicators, capable of measuring real gains in health, for a future with longer years of life, greater jobs and a better quality of life for individuals and society, in a truly effective, sustainable and efficient health system. comprehensive.