20% of European Households Face Catastrophic Health Spending
A new WHO digital platform, UHC Watch, reveals that up to 20% of households across Europe experience catastrophic health spending
Vaccination should be voluntary. There must be an awareness campaign conducted in another way. This was stated to the Bulgarian National Radio by the new Minister of Health Prof. Asena Serbezova.
The lack of a communication campaign and the fact that the vaccines appeared "quickly" turned many people away, Serbezova said.
According to Serbezova, the vaccination program has started "not so well" and valuable time has been lost.
"Vaccines are not 100% effective and no one has claimed that. Some of them are effective about 94-95%, others - about 60-70%, but even vaccinated to get sick, the likelihood of going to the hospital and getting complicated there is very small. "80% of the people who were hospitalized for Covid were not vaccinated," she said.
According to the Minister of Health, there is a need for a campaign among all groups of the population, including MPs.
"Even the doctors and pharmacists I talk to sometimes fail to read the information that science gives us."
The conditional approval of coronavirus vaccines means that they are targeted by the spotlight and, more than any other drug, they are closely monitored, said Asena Serbezova.
"There is no single drug that is 100% safe and any drug can have side effects. They do not affect everyone, just as not everyone who drives crashes. There is a possibility of side effects and there are contraindications for specific cases, but these are very limited groups of the population. "
"Vaccinated people do not receive 100% protection, but when they become infected, they will get sick in different ways," said Prof. Serbezova, who shared her personal experience with the virus before and after the vaccines were available.
"From my own experience, I can tell you what it's like to get Covid-19 vaccinated and unvaccinated."
In Portugal, a successful voluntary vaccination campaign has achieved 95% coverage, Serbezova said. According to her, this is due to the leading role of experts on vaccines.
"We let politicians talk about vaccines at the very beginning of the pandemic."
The results of the introduction of the green certificate will be analyzed, confirmed Asena Serbezova. According to her long-term observations, the so-called assessment of the impact of legislation and various types of measures is extremely formal.
When we talk about green certificates, before making an adequate management decision, we must analyze what effect has been achieved with their introduction, said Prof. Serbezova.
She expects a serious analysis from the NCPHA and the NCIPD.
"I do not even dare to think that these analyzes have not been done so far. I expect to see them. If I do not see them, an order will be made to prepare these analyzes as soon as possible. "
"When a measure is introduced, its effect must be predicted and then, when it is introduced, account must be taken of whether that effect has been achieved. A responsible decision on what future measures should be made on the basis of these data," said Prof. Asena Serbezova in the program "Before All ".
A council of infectious disease specialists, epidemiologists and virologists will be convened to monitor the coronavirus situation, the health minister said.
Serbezova highlighted the digitalization of healthcare as a priority.
/BNR
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