- Everything cannot be justified and explained by the pandemic. On the contrary, the pandemic mercilessly exposed our realities, highlighted the problems. Also that we don't really have a system. That we need to build a health care system from scratch," said Dr. Beata Małecka-Libera, chairwoman of the Senate Health Committee, in an introductory lecture, while pointing out that the foundation, the basis, must be public health, prevention, health education.
Małecka-Libera, who in 2015 was responsible in Ewa Kopacz's government for passing the Public Health Act and preparing the new edition of the National Health Program (unlike the previous ones, as she stressed during the Congress, it had guaranteed funding), did not hide her disappointment with what happened in the following eight years. In her opinion, the Public Health Law was practically not implemented, while the "best" summary of the approach to the NHP is that its latest version, on the one hand, is completely out of step with current challenges, and on the other hand, its funding has been cut by half. - Let's not explain that alongside the NPZ there are still programs addressed to oncology, cardiology or rare diseases, because the National Health Program is the only one intended for the entire population, it is supposed to help keep them healthy for as long as possible," she pointed out.
Citing the latest OECD report published in November, she recalled that life expectancy in Poland is currently 75.5 years, five years shorter than the OECD average. - It is somewhat of a paradox that despite the dismal health indicators, only 10 percent of Poles rate their health badly or very badly. We should think about why this is so," she commented.
On the list of problems pointed out by the Civic Coalition senator is the high percentage of preventable deaths (44 percent could be avoided through prevention or early access to treatment)...
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