The creation of health debt is the biggest loss suffered by the system as a result of the pandemic

Mr. Rector, in the context of Covid-19 we talk more and more about health debt. How did the pandemic affect the therapies of other, especially chronic diseases?

It seems that the greatest loss suffered by public health concerns not the excess of deaths caused by the Covid-19 disease, but the emergence of the health debt, i.e. the deterioration of the health of patients either with undiagnosed cancer or people with chronic diseases who suffered difficult access to medical care. This debt is difficult to quantify, but it is measured, for example, by excess deaths minus the number of deaths directly linked to Covid. On a national scale, unfortunately, we are talking about hundreds of thousands of such deaths from the pandemic period. Statistics also confirm the shortening of life expectancy. I think this is not a direct effect of the pandemic, but an indirect one, resulting from the involvement of the system to fight Covid at the expense of patients with other diseases.

And how has the pandemic affected the teaching of medicine?

We managed to implement the program in terms of both content and form. Some majors are regulated and the way of teaching is strictly defined in them. Thanks to the efforts of academic teachers and understanding of students, the conditions described in the regulations have been met. We were able to issue diplomas to students and they are worth the same as pre- and post-pandemic diplomas.

Thank you for the interview.