We are closing an extreme year Argentina Public Health Complex. A year in which the fragility of the system became visible to everyone and in which the Ministry of Health – when we needed it most – he chose to be away. As President of the Health Commission, I have a duty to put into words what health teams say every day: We are regressing in key dimensions of public health, and we are doing so without leadership, without direction, and without planning.
One of the most worrying signs is the dramatic decline in rates Vaccinationwhich led to the re-emergence of cases of this year measlesa disease that was eradicated in Argentina more than twenty years ago. This is not an epidemiological accident: it is the direct result of the lack of sustained campaigns, the inadequate supply of doses and a state that fails to communicate or prevent. The recent experiences of USA, where a wave grows Anti-science that undermines societal trust in vaccines and evidence-based medicine should act as a reflection of the future we must avoid. Without science, without information and without active public policy, vaccines are declining and diseases are spreading.
Added to this situation was an alarming and unacceptable fact: the holding of an anti-vaccination event within the Congress of the Nationn, approved by the President of the Chamber, who is a deputy of the national ruling party, a space that must be at the heart of democratic institutions and the commitment to public health, carried out despite the warnings of scientific societies and experts on the subject. Allow the dissemination of evidence-contradictory speech at a time historical decline in vaccination ratesrepresents serious irresponsibility and sends a dangerous message to society. Giving misinformation a legislative platform is not neutral: it is harmful, it weakens societal trust in vaccines and undermines decades of work by health teams and national vaccination campaigns. Congress should be a beacon of evidence, not an amplifier of pseudoscience.
Adding to this crisis is the recent tragedy involving contaminated injectable fentanyl, which caused numerous deaths and exposed serious failings in health oversight. It has raised urgent questions about the country’s ability to detect and respond to toxicological emergencies of local origin and hits our country as the Department continues to fail to make statements to Congress. Not a single appearance in response to repeated invitations and no robust epidemiological surveillance strategy. The ministry’s deliberate absence in the face of a life or death issue is unacceptable.
But the problems are deeper and more systemic. This year we observed an alarming disregard for health residencies, the backbone of Argentine health education. Doctors, nurses, kinesiologists, psychologists and professionals of all disciplines work strenuously for days on end, often without care, without proper supervision and without recognition. Salary delays, the emptiness of programs and cuts in training not only demotivate: they drive thousands of young people to give up their careers in the healthcare sector or to emigrate. No health system survives if it destroys those who support it.
The national hospitals were not spared from the deterioration. The lack of financing, the decline in the provision of critical inputs and the lack of structural strengthening measures particularly affected reference institutions. He Garrahan Hospital, The symbol of pediatric health in Latin America and the pride of our country experienced months of crises due to a lack of resources, delays in important purchases and the reduction of important programs. Given this situation, we promoted and obtained the consent of the Pediatric Health Emergencies Act, an essential but insufficient tool if the executive does not finally fulfill its responsibility to ensure the continuity and quality of services.
It is concerning that essential programs – sexual and reproductive health, mental health, chronic disease prevention, oncology, HIVVaccinations – were withdrawn or dismantled directly. The lack of responsibility is also reflected in the paralysis of public campaigns and the lack of accountability of the ministry in parliament.
Added to this is the growing vulnerability of our pensioners, who face continued increases in medication costs and difficulties accessing vital treatments. The interruption in coverage, delivery delays and the lack of government price controls directly impact those who need protection most. Likewise people with People with disabilities are experiencing a worrying decline in their rights: Delays in services, cuts in transfers and rehabilitation, lack of care and bureaucratic procedures that become cruel obstacles to daily life. A state that abandons its elderly and people with disabilities is not only failing to fulfill its legal obligation: abdicates its most basic ethical obligation.
I repeat: Public health cannot be managed as an ideological experiment or a secondary issue. We talk about people’s lives.
The financial statements should be a warning and a commitment. Warning that we have time to avoid a major crisis and pledging that from the opposition we will support a full defense of scientific knowledge, public health and the health rights of our people.
Argentina deserves a robust, modern healthcare system that is based on science and operated responsibly. That must be the horizon.
*Pablo Yedlin is a national representative of the Unión por la Patria for Tucumán
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