No one doubts today that cancer has become in recent decades a major health challenge and one of the most relevant problems in terms of public health and social impact. However, the last strategy to combat this disease in Spain dates from 2005. For this reason, different scientific societies and associations claim a new national plan against cancer in 2020.
Through a joint statement, made within the framework of the virtual seminar A new oncology care – organized by the ECO Foundation, with the support of Fundamed (foundation of medicine and medical device sciences) and the collaboration of Novartis, various entities They requested the reactivation of the plan. They argue that this ailment “must continue to be a priority in our health policy”, and therefore it is urgent to implement everything approved years ago.
What is clear to professionals is that cancer care requires a redesign to adapt it to patients and physicians. According to Professor Eduardo Díaz-Rubio, honorary president of the ECO foundation, “ we have enormous variability in treatments and in the way we face the day-to-day with patients. This means that access, quality and equity are vastly different . ” In his opinion, we must emphasize this aspect and work on prevention, assistance, research and information; pillars, in short, “on which to establish any policy on oncology”.
For the President of the Spanish Society of Medical Oncology (SEOM), Álvaro Rodríguez-Lescure, it is necessary to promote referral units that treat patients centrally. It is also committed to redefining the workforce, with new professional profiles that can advance in the way of tackling cancer. The president of the Spanish Society of Hematology and Hemotherapy (SEHH), Ramón García Sanz, advocates a new cancer care strategy. “The health system has to begin to change the health management system, because it has become quite old for us; he is over fifty years old ”. It considers that it should be improved in two aspects: those concerning the traditional division between primary and specialized care. Thus, Dr. García Sanz advocates greater coordination. “They have to go more hand in hand when it comes to cancer,” he specifies.
Telemedicine was another aspect highlighted by scientific societies. The COVID-19 pandemic has revealed how the new healthcare context is being traced with this tool, according to the president of the Spanish Society of Pediatric Hematology and Oncology (SEHOP), Ana Fernández-Teijeiro.
Those responsible for the Spanish Society of Surgical Oncology (SEOQ), Jacobo Cabañas, and the Spanish Society of Radiation Oncology (SEOR), Jorge Contreras, emphasized, for their part, prevention. Finally, the president of the Spanish Cancer Research Association (ASEICA), Xosé Bustelo, delved into the importance of investment in research, because basic research from the hospital setting is also a challenge in this scenario.
By Carmen M. López
