Our prophylaxis has been neglected in recent years and the epidemic has revealed its disastrous consequences. Hence the emphasis today on the 40+ prevention program, that is free tests for people over 40, says health minister Adam Niedzielski in an interview with the weekly “Sieci”.
The minister was asked, inter alia, whether the pandemic really brought Poland unprecedented population losses, the so-called excess deaths?
«The starts are big and we are constantly looking for the reasons. This applies to our entire region, the West has lost far fewer people. The culture of caring for one’s own health explains the most in this area. For example, there is a link between low mortality and influenza vaccination. It’s not that these vaccines protect against COVID-19, but they are a signal of concern for your own health. If the wave of an epidemic hits a sick, neglected society, the death toll will be greater. We draw conclusions. Our prophylaxis has been neglected in recent years and the epidemic has revealed its disastrous consequences. Hence the emphasis today on the 40+ prophylaxis program, i.e. free tests for people over 40 ”- replied the head of the Ministry of Health.
«(…) The numbers we have – so only for more than a year of the pandemic more than 140 excess deaths, including 70 directly because of COVID-19, they reflect reality and you have to accept it, but learn from it. Without it, each subsequent epidemic, and they will certainly be, will bring a similar tragic toll. And each of my predecessors from every previous government today should, like me, beat their chest and say what they did to protect society from the effects of the epidemic. I emphasize that today we are implementing preventive programs for the general population that have not existed so far »- said Niedzielski.
He also referred to the question about the fight against arrears, with queues in the health service, which – busy fighting the pandemic – could not perform all its tasks.
«First, we lifted the limits on access to specialists and we pay for each patient. However, this is not a panacea for everything, because the main problem is too few specialists. So we admitted doctors from Belarus and Ukraine, a total of approx. 2 thousand. specialists, it is a very serious support for our system. Once, doctors from Poland traveled abroad en masse, now we have an attractive offer for both our doctors and people from beyond the eastern border. From 2015. we have actually doubled the expenditure on health care, we have radically increased the number of places at medical universities, as well as the number of universities themselves. There will be effects, but you have to wait for them. Doctors from the East provide significant support today »- emphasized the minister.