The acting Minister of Economy and Business, Nadia Calviño, and the Acting Minister of Health, Consumption and Social Welfare, María Luisa Carcedo, attended this Friday the joint meeting of Ministers of Economy and Health of the G20 held at the Japanese city of Osaka.

The objective of the meeting is to promote coordination between national and international organizations in the strengthening of health systems.

The two ministers have highlighted the universal health coverage in Spain. "We believe that universal health coverage is a reflection of a just, supportive and cohesive society, but we also believe that it makes us more efficient and effective," said the Minister of Health, Consumption and Social Welfare.

The Minister of Economy and Business affirmed that universal quality health allows healthier workers and students, which improves the work capacity and academic results with positive effects on productivity and growth. In addition to reducing inequality and becomes an engine of innovation. In this regard, he highlighted the leading position of Spain in the investigation of new medicines.

"Scientific evidence has shown that national health systems are an effective investment to reduce poverty and socio-economic and territorial inequality, allow economies of scale and help set the population in the territories," added the Minister of Health.

Carcedo recalled that Spain's commitment to universalization is present since the creation of the National Health System in the General Health Law of 1986 and the creation of National system of health (SNS), with a model of public provision and financed by the General State Budgets. "It was done through public services that cover practically all the health needs of our population."

Recently, the Royal Decree-Law 7/2018 on Universal Access to the National Health System It has consolidated the Spanish model by guaranteeing that all people in Spain are treated in equal conditions by the SNS.

The RDL, in addition, separates the health coverage of the insured (contributing) concept and associates it with the condition of Spanish citizenship or residence in Spain, as well as safeguarding the care of the groups excluded from care in 2012.

This health policy has allowed Spain to be the healthiest country in the world today, according to the Bloomberg Healthiest Country Idex. Spain now has a National Health System with universal coverage of wide scope and is one of the pillars of our Welfare State.

The acting Minister of Economy and Business explained that the Government considers money destined for health as an investment, not as an expense, and that our good health system allows Spain to be one of the longest-lived countries. And he recalled that in addition to its benefits, Spanish healthcare stands out for its efficiency and is among the three best in the world, according to the index of efficiency in health care prepared by Bloomberg.

The position of Spain in the G20 is to promote universal health coverage to the entire planet "because the determinants of health are global and health coverage should also be global," as expressed by Maria Luisa Carcedo.

Aging and resistance to antibiotics

Along with universal health coverage, two other topics are focusing the priorities of the Japanese presidency in the G20 Health Group: the response to the aging of the population and the safety and management of health risks (the response to resistance to antimicrobials).

The work on these matters, now under development, will be reflected in a consensus document next October.

Spain is today, behind Japan, the second country with the highest life expectancy and, according to the scientific journal The Lancet, it will occupy the first position in the year 2040.

Currently, life expectancy in Spain is over 83 years, according to data from the National Institute of Statistics. In the case of men, it stood at 80.4 years and 85.7 in the case of women.

Spain advocates within the G20 for the implementation of healthy aging policies. Some initiatives that respond to a population aging criterion but also to the conviction that working for a healthy and active aging means deploying a strategy that improves the health of the entire population and throughout the life course.

Regarding risk management, one of the central aspects of the debates concerns resistance to antimicrobials. Spain has the National Plan to combat Resistance to Antibiotics (PRAN) and programs to optimize the use of antibiotics.

The consumption of antibiotics in the field of human health has been reduced in Spain by 7.2% between 2015 and 2018, and in the veterinary field there has been a reduction of 14% between 2014 and 2016.

Kento Complex

Hours before the meeting of the G20 Economy and Health Ministers, Minister Carcedo visited the Kento complex (Knowledge, Exercise, Nutrition, Town).

These facilities, also known as the Biomedical and Health City of Osaka del Norte, aim to promote greater integration of companies related to health.

The Biomedical Cluster of Osaka del Norte brings together the R & D & I activities of the most leading Japanese institutes in academic research, private capital companies and the Government of Japan itself with the aim of leading a sustained growth and adding added value to the pharmaceutical and medical products.

Minister Nadia Calviño is in Osaka to participate with the acting President of the Government, Pedro Sánchez, at the summit of G20 leaders. He began his stay in Japan on Thursday with an intervention in Tokyo at the Women Political Leaders Summitt, where he expressed the Executive's commitment to gender equality.



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