The State Public Health Agency gives the green light by a narrow margin.

BarcelonaThe bill to create the State Public Health Agency has narrowly passed the first step in the Congress of Deputies. The proposal has been passed on its second attempt in the chamber, despite the dissenting votes of the PP, Vox, and Junts (Junts), so the process will continue in the Senate.

This Thursday's vote in the Health Committee was resolved with 19 votes in favor and 18 against. This came after incorporating into the proposal a compromise promoted by ERC (Republican Revolutionary Party) with the aim of resolving various demands from veterinarians regarding drug prescriptions. This point has been a subject of negotiation until the last moment between the Ministry of Health, the Ministry of Agriculture, and the parliamentary groups.

The creation of the State Public Health Agency was already voted on in Congress in March. At that time, the Ministry of Health assumed it would be approved by a large majority in the plenary session, only with the rejection of Vox. But finally, the votes against, also from the PP and Junts, defeated the initiative.. In fact, it's the same scenario that was repeated this Thursday, this time but in committee, which, having full legislative jurisdiction, will send the law directly to the Senate.

In Thursday's committee, the PP repeated its negative vote despite having managed to add an amendment demanding that the appointment of the head of the Agency—the candidate who has been most strongly mentioned is Fernando Simón, whom the PP calls a "spokesperson for institutional lies"—be made following a "qualified and qualified career" and with prior debate before the Interterritorial Council. For its part, Junts had presented several amendments to allow veterinarians to sell medicines in surgeries, although the one that was passed was the one promoted by ERC. Junts justified its negative vote by stating that it is not "morally obliged to support anything that poses a jurisdictional risk."

Strengthen surveillance

The proposal to create the State Public Health Agency responds to one of the many lessons learned from the coronavirus pandemic that swept the world five years ago. This is the need for a strong epidemiological surveillance system, capable of tracking many cases and identifying potential threats. The more and better information we have—and if the criteria for data collection are unified across all territories—the easier it will be to anticipate emerging pathogens and diseases.

On the contrary, a lack of data and coordination, especially in a state where health responsibilities are devolved, can hinder the containment of infections and the work of healthcare professionals, as was seen during COVID-19.