PCP was today at the Nazaré Health Center to address the importance of primary health care and the importance of all users of SESARAM having the right to a family doctor.
In this political action, the deputy of the PCP, Ricardo Lume, recalls that primary health care means, in the Region, the first form of contact of citizens with the Regional Health Service, being understood as the first means of access to health care.
In this sense, the deputy stresses the importance of all families having a family doctor in order to be monitored throughout their lives.
“This doctor who will know your entire history of illnesses and is the one you will turn to if you are not feeling well. He has the responsibility to monitor during his illness and afterwards, creating a real bond with the patient ”, he indicates.
Ricardo Lume recalls that, in 2015, in the first government program of Miguel Albuquerque, the goal was that by 2019 all Madeira and Porto-Santenses people would have access to their family doctor.
“Unfortunately, in December 2019, there were still 30.3% of the Region’s population without a family doctor. A year later, the number of users in the Region without a family doctor was only reduced by 2%, a very slow reduction considering the importance of ensuring that each SESARAM user has a family doctor ”, points out Ricardo Lume.
At the beginning of 2021, the deputy of the PCP also recalls, “many users of the Dr. Rui Adriano de Freitas Health Center, located in Nazaré, Parish of São Martinho, had a family doctor. But, they have been without this right, until the present date, due to the fact that two of the doctors have reached retirement age and stopped working “, he affirms, stressing that, meanwhile,” SESARAM has not yet guaranteed the replacement of the referred health professionals by others capable of ensuring the users’ right to a family doctor”.
For all that has been exposed, the PCP considers that “it is essential to guarantee to all Madeirans and Porto-Santenses access to the family doctor, as well as to guarantee regular and in-person consultations. Only then will we be making progress in recognizing the right to health care for all ”.