The Director of the District Administrative Department of Health (Dadis), Álex Tejada Núñez, provided a detailed assessment of the strategies implemented to improve health care in Cartagena and reduce the number of sick people in the city.
What is the main strategy you have implemented in the health area?
By indication and the same feeling that the mayor has, we seek that just as Cartagena must shine again, health must also shine again. The problems of the people of Cartagena are not individual, it also happens in health. Health actors have the same drawbacks, absolutely all of them. The first thing we decided was to bring them together, unite them, and try to generate trust between them, because in the end, the problems that one EPS has are those of the other and the one who needs a solution is the user. We began to generate a space of trust, we united the EPS and the IPS. Just like Real Cartagena did, we strengthened our lines by bringing a highly capable team. Read here: Security operations carried out in Bocagrande and Castillogrande
How did they manage to reduce maternal mortality?
The roadmap we implemented is working because we are there, because together we do more. Each case is analyzed and with the help of the city’s clinics, which are very willing, we have prevented 14 maternal deaths in a period of 5 months.
What changed in the system?
Firstly, the union, secondly, the first basic level of care of the ESE and the Health Service Provider Companies (EPSS) has improved a lot, because when you integrate a work plan, everything works, everyone knows What should you do? We are connected from the first to the last level, as the mayor wants, as the community wants.
What have they implemented for the neighborhoods?
Look, we go into the neighborhoods, we talk to the people and they themselves tell us what things are going wrong or what they want. Those who know the most are the leaders and that interaction with them and the community in general brings us closer. We have a leader like the mayor who likes the streets, so do we. The street is prettier than the office. You arrive on the street and people tell you what they need, at the same time, you tell them what you need from them. Read here: “A labor massacre was avoided”: unions on surveillance in schools
How are you coping with dengue, especially during this rainy season?
Dengue is not controlled if the director of the World Health Organization (WHO) or the mayor orders me to fumigate the entire city. I mitigate it, but the mosquito is there. To avoid dengue we need the community, the neighborhood leaders. We need to strengthen prevention campaigns, so that people know and are aware of the need to comply with each of the health measures.
To what do you attribute the reduction in cases?
The community has helped us a lot. They are copying the message. Today we have a reduction of 38.4% compared to the previous year. We are diagnosing earlier, we are better than many cities like Cali and Medellín. We are in green. I tell the community that I congratulate them and remind them that the fight against dengue depends on them. Risk Management is doing a great job, the Ministry of the Interior, cleaning pipes and different spaces. This city belongs to everyone, let’s take care of it.
I tell the community that I congratulate them and remind them that the fight against dengue depends on them. This city belongs to everyone, let’s take care of it.”
Alex Tejada, director of Dadis.
How do you see the panorama of Cartagena users with the EPSs intervened?
We are going through a difficult time of transition in the system. What do I suggest? That once and for all a health model is defined with which we are going to work and that we are in agreement. Uncertainty must end and the transition period must not affect the user or health finances. The EPS that are in liquidation must be monitored by Supersalud and we trust that Supersalud, the Ministry and the corresponding entities must make them comply with the commitments made.
What have they worked for cancer patients?
The union that was implemented with the mothers was applied to the treatment of cancer patients. We put together EPS, IPS, community and foundations, and we already have the cancer route. Everyone is helping each other, those who lack one medicine receive it from the other. The cases are discussed, the experiences are shared, and the treatments too. From the most complex clinic to the least complex health post. It is working and we are going to deliver good results.
He added that a meeting will soon be held with all EPSs where they will discuss chronic diseases that are not being adequately treated “so that we can have patients with controlled diagnoses, with controlled care. We will target disabilities. This Government is committed to making health in the city shine, the mayor gave us that responsibility and we are not going to be inferior to the challenge.”
