151) Guardianship does not contain health centers

The regional secretary for Social Affairs in the government pledged yesterday that management is not foreseen in the medium term, the closure of any health center in the region. Conceição Estudante who spoke on the balance sheet presentation of activities relating to these units of health said that at the moment the main concern is to provide conditions for the smooth functioning of existing health centers.

Critical of those who believe that the closure of these services is a way to reduce costs, the regional secretary for Social Affairs sought to prove just the opposite, asserting that the effect may be contrary to the extent that the whole panoply of medical care and nurse assigned to the emergency room is a hospital or a health center is "objectively more expensive than the provision in a medical consultation."

In this sense, Conceição Estudante has left a clear idea that the reduction of costs on health goes, first, by backing the prevention and the proper provision of primary health care. One objective should be reflected in an increase in the number of available medical consultation in health centers.

Conceição Estudante also said that in recent years, the growth rate of expenditure of the Regional Health Service was below the rate of inflation. Because the efficiency of healthcare delivery in health centers passes for ensuring a sufficient number of doctors, family, the secretary assured of protection that goes in the right direction region. Are currently engaged in the health centers 109 professionals, among doctors from family and general practitioners that the sum is 24 more interns, doctors who are to finish this specialty. Although the number is sufficient for the approximately 114,387 users who attended last year, the health centers, does not satisfy the authority, which wants to raise the number of visitors these units.

According to figures released yesterday by Chairman of the Board of the Regional Health Service (SRS) the number of visitors amounts to only 42.5 percent of total subscribers (269,379), with an average of 3 for regular consultations during the last year. Regarding the total number of consultations, the SRS found about 334,507 documents, of which 13,524 were consultations of family planning, there is at this level, an increase of 5.5 percent over 2004.

Consultations home growth has been strong, around 42 percent over the past two years. The dentist was another area of greatest increase, with an increase of 113.9 percent. Indeed related to the extension of the Oral Health Program of the whole region, emphasized Filomeno Paulo.

Tânia Caldeira
Jornal da Madeira
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While this news does not carry the numbers of oral health consultations conducted in the region, at least it seems appropriate that this strength has reached a higher proportion of the local population.

Already have been submitted data on the evolution of oral health programs for children and young people in the mainland (previous posts). I thank those who can provide more statistics on trends in time and place of the national territory, on oral health.

Gerofil