Bogota, Colombia, August 23The National Academy of Medicine, with the support of PAHO/WHO Colombia, presented reports on the Colombia General Physician Competencies Forum, a crucial event for the future of the health system held on August 23, 2023 in Bogotá.
The document includes the discussions and proposals that arose during a fundamental discussion to build and operate national health systems effectively and move towards a system that guarantees universal access to Colombian health, focusing on human talent, specifically, in the competences of the State. General practitioner.
In this context, the essential role of the general practitioner as part of a multidisciplinary team leading the health service on all fronts of care, who represents the first contact of people, families and communities with health systems, usually at the first level of care, was discussed.
At the global level, the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, particularly SDG 3, which aims to “ensure healthy lives and promote universal well-being,” call for ambitious and effective public policies. Accumulating evidence at the global level suggests that countries with health systems based on primary health care (PHC) and organized into comprehensive and integrated health networks (RIISS) have greater potential to achieve better health outcomes.
Likewise, those systems that are organized around people with family health models, where health professionals, population and territory are strongly aligned, are closer to achieving healthier and more protected lives.
Health systems with strong primary health care put the problem-solving capacity of their systems in the hands of general practitioners, enhancing their diagnostic capabilities, strengthening their authority to solve the most common health problems and creating effective referral and counter-referral channels.
In many countries, general practitioners and family doctors play a key role in organizing the health response at the population level, providing friendly and decisive solutions. However, the analysis of the document reveals limitations in the competencies, functions and powers of the general practitioner, which negatively impact the ability to solve the first level of care and generate an overload at the specialist level.
These constraints also contribute to specialist and specialized care becoming a gateway to the health system, with implications for costs and the concentration of services in advanced urban areas. This is a strategic issue that deserves special attention and is addressed in depth in the document.
Identifying these problems and a common approach to them is essential to find effective solutions. “At PAHO, we affirm our commitment to promote actions that contribute to improving the health of the Colombian population. We invite everyone to read this document carefully and participate in the construction of agreements and concrete measures that strengthen the role of general practitioners, improve their working conditions and review training programs to ensure their competence,” said Dr. Gina Tambini Gómez, PAHO and WHO Representative in Colombia.
The presentation day of the document included the participation of prominent leaders in the field of health, including Dr. Gabriel Carrasquilla Gutiérrez, President of the National Academy of Medicine, and Dr. José María Maya Mejía, Dean of the University of CES. Also present were members of the Academy and Dr. Mario Torres Calixto, who served as the general editor of the document.
Dr. Tambini congratulated and thanked everyone who participated in the creation of the notes, especially Dr. Mario Torres Calixto and his team, speech pathologist Laura Ariza, the editorial board, Richard Aguirre Fernández for style correction, Silvia Carolina López Sánchez for design and layout; and Monica Padilla, from the OPS team, for her contribution to the co-construction exercise.
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