On Tuesday, the Family Health Care Association criticized the centralization of seasonal vaccines at pharmacies in the fall/winter 2023/24, noting there were more flu-related admissions to intensive care units and targets were reached later.
In a statement, the Portuguese Association of Family Health Services (USF-AN) asks the health authorities what the strategy will be in the next seasonal vaccination campaign and recalls that when the centralization of the process took place in health centers, Portugal “was one of the few countries that managed to achieve the goals of the World Health Organization”. health care organizations in a timely manner,” that is, “before the most critical stages begin.”
“This shows that affordability has never been an issue,” USF-AN states, adding: “This year, previous years’ numbers were achieved late and only after health centers were asked to do what they have always done well.”
Until this time, he emphasizes, “vaccines were redirected to pharmacies and medical centers, although they wanted vaccinations, but did not have vaccines.”
As for flu-related ICU admissions, he says they have “more than doubled” and compares the period between week 40 (October 2 to 8) of 2023 and week 23 (October 3 to 9). June) 2024 and the same period in 2022 and 2023. to conclude that the number of cases has increased from 76 to 156.
He wonders what was the technical basis for making this “paradigm change in vaccination strategies” and whether “any prior research has been conducted on the economic impact of this change in strategy.”
A National Pharmacy Association study published on Tuesday concluded that extending Covid-19 and flu vaccinations to pharmacies resulted in potential savings of €2.4 million for users and 310,000 hours of work for NHS professionals.
USF-AN believes that the “logical sequence” should have been for ANF to conduct a preliminary economic study of this change, which would subsequently have been assessed by Infarmed, and that it would have needed to obtain a DGS assessment in order to “measure the health impact”
Citing data taken from the National Institutes of Health’s Surveillance Bulletins of Influenza and Other Respiratory Viruses, Dr. Ricardo Jorge, showing weekly trends in the proportion of influenza patients in intensive care units (ICUs) from 2012 to 2024, he states: “It has never happened before.” a sharp spike in flu cases in intensive care units, similar to the 2023/2024 flu season.”
“Comparisons with the previous season have never been more dire,” the association said, also warning that a surge in cases “could strain the response capacity of resources such as intensive care units at some point.”
He also recalls the economic cost of this change, calculating that the 2.5 euros paid for each Covid-19 vaccine administered in pharmacies – similar to what is paid for the flu vaccine – would amount to a total of 11,500,000 euros. what constitutes The Association says it could invest in primary health care, for example by hiring 639 nurses who lack SNS.
“This option, in addition to guaranteeing seasonal vaccination, also guarantees skilled nursing care for approximately one million users without a family nurse,” according to USF-AN, remembering that vaccination in a medical center can be used for preventive and health purposes. promotional strategies such as screening or treatment of chronic diseases such as diabetes or high blood pressure.
Author: Lusa
Source: CM Jornal
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