On the second day of the General Assembly of the Guild, one of the activities that stood out was the visit of the head of the Portfolio, an instance in which the authority referred to the areas in which the ministry is focused such as the lists waiting, APS Universal and the short isapres bill.
After six years that a Minister of Health attended in person a General Assembly of the Medical College, an occasion in which the former minister, Dr. Emilio Santelices, was present in Coyhaique (2018), the Minister of Health, Dr. Ximena Aguilera, arrived to the city of Viña del Mar to talk with representatives of the different Regional Councils to learn about the concerns and problems that affect professionals from Arica to Magallanes and the situation of the country’s health system.
The minister stated that reducing waiting times on waiting lists is something natural to the system that strains it, but what is important is that people wait little. Likewise, he added that this Secretary of State is dedicated to a management that is complex, “since all health systems and all health authorities are facing complexities related to the pandemic, having experienced a gigantic health crisis that in decades “What is coming will be written about the effect of the impact of excess death and the confrontation of mental health pathologies.”
Regarding the short law, he stated that Health has made the greatest effort to have a proposal that provides a balanced response, so that the rulings of the Supreme Court can be complied with. That is, the people who were overcharged will be returned those amounts, but at the same time these conditions will be generated.
A third priority is the issue of reform in which there are different elements, since for the Minsal, “the most relevant thing about this, what we are trying to modify and what we say is the heart of the reform, It is Universal Primary Care. It is not the sexiest thing nor what sells the most, but it is what will contribute the most to generating social cohesion, having a health system that leads to integration and not segregation, in the sense that there are systems for the poor and for the rich.”
Finally, he added that there is primary health care where he pointed out that this contributes to improving indicators in this area. “There are those who think that only drinking water, sewage, vaccines, of course, are super relevant. Nothing more and nothing better than vaccines, but medical care also has an impact on the indicators, when it is delivered in a way that people have access and effective coverage is achieved.”
“It has been an opportunity for her to explain the axes of her management, so we talked about Universalization of Primary Care and reform, we talked about waiting times and of course we addressed the issue of the short law. Then we were able to ask him several questions and express many concerns and also make a couple of requests. It was a very interesting conversation, very frank and very fruitful,” adds Dr. Anamaría Arriagada, national president.
Among the activities of the day, a group work workshop on Health Reform was developed. The assembly members met in working groups to analyze and determine strategies on the Health Reform and thus be able to present proposals. This activity was carried out by the departments of Medical Work and Health Policies and Studies.
In addition, our national secretary, Dr. Mauricio Osorio, gave a presentation on the Regulation of Specialties and Clinical Fields from a union perspective. “Both topics are crucial considering not only the current needs of our country, which seem to be more oriented towards specialists and therefore, the issues of clinical fields must be resolved so that these specialists can be trained. Now, thinking about the specialists, the certification of specialties is a big issue and particularly trying to ensure quality in the future, the recertification or renewal of the certification that should come into effect from January 1, 2026 is an issue that, absolutely, we have to resolve because what we have found is coming to us,” said the secretary.
For his part, Dr. Rodrigo Salinas, member of our Department. of Ethics and the National Ethics Court, spoke about ethical protection and the modification of the Code. The afternoon continued with a conversation table in which the following participated: Dr. Carmen Gloria Aylwin, president of Asocimed; Dr. Gilberto González, president of CONACEM and Dr. Antonio Orellana, president of ASOFAMECH in which they addressed many areas of medical training and accreditation.
“The round table was a very fruitful exchange around the axes of training, how specialties are accredited, and the standards that we have developed in Chile. It was a long day, but very, very interesting. Tomorrow we will continue completing. our work on the reform and what is happening with health in Chile since the private insurance crisis,” concluded the president, Dr. Anamaría Arriagada.
