the cannabis for medical use still on the Congress table. With the bill presented by United We Can for its decriminalization and regulation for medical purposes in the air, the Popular Party was the next to take a step forward by requesting the Ministry of Health the elaboration of a white paper.
A request that articulated with the presentation of a non-Law Proposal to the Congress of Deputies for debate in the Committee on Health and Consumer Affairs. The goal, they say, is “clarify, from the rigor and scientific evidence, the real levels of quality, efficiency and safety of the medicinal use of cannabis in Spain, as well as the possible effects and consequences “.
For this, they see the need participation and contributions of public bodiess both in the field of care and research, such as the Spanish Agency for Medicines and Health Products (Aemps) or the Carlos III Institute of Health. They must also participate in its elaboration private institutions, scientific societies and patient associations, Both nationally and internationally.
Once drafted, the parliamentary formation believes that the document could serve as a guarantee and guide to promote, if necessary, a subsequent legislative development in the matter.
Strategy to reduce obesity
It is not the only NLP presented in healthcare. The Mixed Parliamentary Group, at the request of Sergio Sayas López and Carlos García Adanero, deputies of the Union of the Navarrese People (UPN), proposes the creation of a National Strategy for a comprehensive approach to Obesity in Spain.
This plan needs to be worked out “Within six months” and contain specific plans, programs and measures, with special emphasis on the most vulnerable population, providing guidelines
practices of action to health professionals, relatives, caregivers, educators and social agents, and disseminating truthful and scientific information that contributes to its eradication “.
As an argument, the group points to the 8 million people, 22 percent of the total total population, who are obese in Spain, according to the Nutritional Study of the Spanish Population (ENPE). The World Health Organization (WHO) refers to this disease as an “epidemic that is not restricted to industrialized societies, but also in developing countries.”
Cost of 3 billion euros in 2030
The health care that this disease requires is one high cost for the System National Health, With estimates to increase to 3 billion euros in 2030. Another major danger of obesity as a chronic recurrent disease lies in its relationship to risk of developing a large number of associated diseases: Obesity is the number one cause of type 2 diabetes worldwide, cardiovascular disease, has a direct relationship with the appearance of up to 13 different types of cancer (breast, prostate, endometrial, etc.). ), generates depression and anxiety, among many other serious health problems.
a situation aggravated by the arrival of the Covid-19. During the pandemic, obese patients, in addition to being more likely to become infected, develop the disease with a worse prognosis. To all this is added a particularly worrying reality: the childhood obesity.
In this sense, in the search for solutions to the public health problem caused by this pathology, an ‘Obesity Policy Engagement Netipork’ (OPEN) has been created, an international group of public health experts, representing the people who suffer from it. , in public policy and opinion leaders from different parts of the world specializing in the field of obesity with the aim of improving care for this disease. This group of experts in Spain composed of Obesida professors and professors they are in contact with the different parliamentary groups to encourage us to take state policy measures and specific programs not only from the health field, but also from the social or educational one.