Medics support Trzaskowski. “His program is an escape forward”

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The presidential campaign is in full swing. An appeal from the medical community appeared on the website pomocamyrafala.pl, in which they support Rafał Trzaskowski in the second round of the presidential election. We talk to prof. Jacek Jassem, an oncologist and academic teacher.

1. The medical community openly supports Rafał Trzaskowski in the second round of the presidential election. “I think the medical community has joined the slogan ‘we are fed up'”
2. “We must say it clearly – without doctors, nurses, paramedics and all other healthcare professionals, no country can exist normally”
3. The program presented by Rafał Trzaskowski is “an escape forward”. It promotes modern medicine, supports system solutions
4. «It is not that we [the medics] demand that tomorrow, suddenly, as if by magic, everything will improve. The current president does not have a plan to achieve normality »

Magda Więcna, Medonet editorial team: It is rare in Poland that representatives of a specific professional group openly support a specific candidate for president. What prompted medics to take such a position?

Prof. dr hab. Jacek Jassem, MD: I think this is due to some resentment in the medical community. The recent pandemic has shown this in particular. When we are needed, the authorities coax us, show us as heroes on the front lines. As soon as the threat ends, the situation reverses. The present ruling camp treats us neglectfully, they believe that we are some “elite”. The rhetoric of the authorities is based on the fight against the “elite”, an anti-scientific and anti-evidence approach. You do not have to go far – just listen to yesterday’s speech by President Andrzej Duda on vaccines. Besides, we are not the most important here, but our sick people, because we cannot provide them with proper care. It all builds up, and I think the medical community has also joined the slogan “we have enough!”.

The appeal of independent researchers in medical fields was signed by 373 signatories, and 801 expressed their support. Most supporters also come from the medical community. The response is considerable.

The appeal is available in the public domain and anyone can support it. This shows the common feeling of this community that something bad is happening, that we deserve at least a little more respect. We must be clear – without doctors, nurses, paramedics and all other healthcare professionals, no country can exist normally. It hasn’t been happening since today, but we’ve never felt as badly treated as we are today. In addition, we also pay attention to typically political elements, such as observance of the constitution, independence and truthfulness of the president. Initiating wise laws and blocking the foolish. Connecting, not dividing Poles. This is what we expect from the president of the Republic of Poland.

What is it about the health protection postulates proposed by Rafał Trzaskowski that they are better for the medical community?

In our appeal, we emphasize that Rafał Trzaskowski’s program is “an escape forward”. There are important announcements there: training of medical staff, increasing the number of doctors and nurses, implementing extensive preventive programs or developing an e-health and telemedicine program. These are wise solutions, the development of modern medicine based on scientific evidence. A medicine that supports good solutions that changes qualitatively. Our health care system requires many system solutions that have not been seen for years. We got stuck in one place.

If we look at what percentage of GDP is devoted to health care and compare it with gigantic projects of seemingly very dubious value, such as building the largest airport in Europe or digging through the Vistula Spit, we can see that the priorities are shifted. If you postpone fundamental human reforms, such as health care reform and raising health spending, at least to the level of other European countries that are on a similar economic level, then something is wrong.

Of course, we cannot compare to much richer countries, but if we look at the Czech Republic or Hungary, or the Baltic countries, which have a similar level of economic development, and we compare how much GDP is spent there on health protection and how much in Poland, the difference can be seen . And if a presidential candidate wants to change this situation, which has not been resolved for years, it is hard not to support this initiative.

There is a large paragraph in the current president’s election program devoted to health protection. Andrzej Duda boasts that during his five-year term in office, health care expenditure has increased significantly, which, inter alia, shows that the past few years have been good, and it could be even better. I understand that this does not appeal to medics?

Electoral rhetoric has its rights, and you can say all kinds of things. Nobody denies that the expenditures allocated to health care are growing, while Polish patients have much smaller possibilities of health protection than citizens of other countries.

The last pandemic, which, by some twist of fate, affected Poland to a lesser extent than other countries, showed where we are. With such a low number of cases, we were not able to provide care to people in social welfare homes. Many hospitals were left to themselves. In many cases, as I felt, medics had to organize personal protective equipment themselves to protect patients and themselves.

It is scary to think what would happen if the epidemic hit us as much as Spain or Italy. This country would simply be paralyzed and hundreds of thousands of victims would be lost. We are not satisfied with the rhetoric that everything is fine and it will get even better. This system is badly organized, new forms of financing must be introduced, and measures must be taken to change it. At this point, health policy is more interventional than strategic. Here you have to set goals for five or ten years and implement them consistently. It’s not that we [the medics] demand that tomorrow, suddenly, as if by magic, everything will improve. There is no plan to come to normality in the current president.

I will come back to yesterday’s “debate” and the unfortunate statement of President Andrzej Duda regarding compulsory vaccinations. It was widely echoed in the medical community. Probably such declarations of the president cause confusion among voters?

Choking on anti-vaccines who pose a huge threat to public health is pure populism that has nothing to do with scientific evidence. It is outrageous for the president to admit he never got the flu vaccine and to say that he does not see the need to vaccinate against the global threat coronavirus. This is a very clear example of anti-science rhetoric and flattering people who have no idea how serious a threat their ideas pose.

All over the world, vaccination is considered a very important part of public health. The introduction of vaccinations has eliminated many of the plagues that have plagued people for centuries. We have no smallpox, we have virtually no polio, and tuberculosis is much less of a threat. Vaccination saves millions of people and ignoring vaccinations, undermining their value is, I know I will sound lofty, a policy directed against the nation.

If someone does not value the health of the nation and does not value the fact that vaccination can save hundreds of thousands of people, it means that he is disregarding the fundamental right of the citizen to ensure the constitutional right to health protection by the state. I accept the President’s statement with great embarrassment.

The editorial board recommends:

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3. Regional Medical Chamber: President Andrzej Duda’s words about vaccinations are absolutely unacceptable