The role of family medicine in the prevention of risk factors and promotion of healthy lifestyles was highlighted in the province of Ciego de Ávila when commemorating the 38th anniversary of the constitution of the Family Doctor and Nurse Program, an initiative of the Commander in Chief Fidel Castro Ruz.
Dr. Nilka Pita Alemán, provincial director of Health, emphasized that the professionals of the Primary Care System contributed to the control of the SARS-CoV-2 virus, which is the cause of the COVID-19 pandemic, through active investigations, treatment of the suspects and sick people, and incorporation into the national immunization program against this disease.
She referred to the integration of these professionals to work in hospitals and isolation centers, and to the rehabilitation of more than 150 family doctor's offices (CMF), circumstances that accentuated their responsibility for the health of individuals in the communities.
In the current year, the construction, renovation and separation actions of CMFs that share premises with other institutions or assist more than 1,500 inhabitants will continue, which will contribute to raise the quality of Primary Health Care and will lay the foundations for recovering and incorporating services that avoid the transfer to polyclinics and hospitals, she stressed.
The doctor added that the coverage of personnel is guaranteed for the more than 400 CMF existing in the province, which will favor the expansion of benefits and the improvement of the health of the people, through actions of promotion, prevention, diagnosis and timely treatment in the communities.
Pita Alemán highlighted the responsibility of the family doctor and nurse with the Maternal-Infant Care Program, so that the protocols for care of pregnant women and children are met to reverse the unfavorable situation that the province presented at the end of 2021.
In 2022, it is necessary to strengthen the epidemiology and performance of family medicine, pillars of the Cuban health system that will remain in the front line of confrontation with COVID-19, Daily Sordo Peláez, secretary general of the Union of Public Health Workers (SNTSP) in the territory of Ciego de Ávila, held.
She highlighted the accumulated experience inside and outside the country, in addition to the improvement of the work in the CMFs and polyclinics, endowed with highly qualified human capital.
In the commemorative act, the “Manuel Piti Fajardo” Medal, instituted by the SNTSP, was awarded to doctors Acela Luna Rivero, Maricel V. Pérez Hernández and Martha María Gutiérrez Martínez, outstanding figures in the confrontation with the pandemic; and other doctors and nurses from the different health areas of the main municipality received recognition.
At the beginning of the Family Doctor and Nurse Program in the province of Ciego de Ávila, there were six clinics, subsequently multiplied, progressively, to add more than 400 today, distributed in the 19 polyclinics and with total coverage of medical and nursing staff.
