Health co-operativism was debated by international experts in Madrid
Madrid, 20th October 2008.- More than 150 healthcare professionals from all over the world met in Madrid at the II International Seminar on Health and Co-operatives organised by the Espriu Foundation on 16 and 17 October, to debate the progress made in health co-operativism as a type of management that contributes added value to the healthcare systems of the future.
Over the two days of discussion, the opportunities provided by organisations like co-operatives became clear. As well as dealing with the problems in society, they aim to provide an effective response based on principles and values such as solidarity, democratic self-government, individuals taking priority over financial results and co-management.
For Dr. José Carlos Guisado, Vice-president of the Espriu Foundation and President of IHCO (International Health Co-operatives Organisation), “the objective of this seminar is to highlight the points shared by this type of organisations and how we can all put them into practice”.
The Vice-Minister of Health Planning and Infrastructures of the Madrid Department of Health, Belén Prado Sanjurjo, who gave the closing address at the seminar, stressed "how important it is for the healthcare system that governments come closer to the societies they represent and their involvement in them never entails a lack of freedom of choice for their patients”.
Belén Prado Sanjurjo also said that "nobody is calling the Spanish health system into question - what is needed is for it to adapt to today's world. The Spanish healthcare system is different and has shown that it guarantees fairness and does not make a distinction between public and private healthcare”.
Another subject discussed at the seminar was the phenomenon of human mobility, which also affects the health sector, with patients' mobility becoming a right. According to the experts who participated at the meeting, in order to achieve optimum mobility it is necessary to guarantee care for patients in different countries by co-operation between healthcare systems and establishing ways of compensation.
The Tallinn Charter of 2008 is good example of all this. However, social economy institutions must also participate by means of co-operation both on a mutual basis and between public healthcare systems. Among these are the NGO Alliance for Health Promotion promoted by the World Health Organisation (WHO), or the STEP initiative promoted by the International Labour Organisation (ILO).
This area was also the focus for debate on the type of organisations that make up the “Third Sector”. These are foundations, associations and co-operatives that are involved in a social economy developed to meet the needs of society, and which have citizens as their main players. It is also important to stress that the principles of these organizations are based on co-operative values.
According to Dr. Guisado, “the most paradigmatic example for us are the health co-operatives formed by doctors and users according to the model developed by Dr. Espriu. These organisations are a response to a social demand, share risks and responsibilities, but are also organisations with a soul”.
Espriu Foundation
The Espriu Foundation was established to embody the principle of co-management advocated by Dr. Espriu. The Foundation's objective is to promote and carry out research into the development of Health Co-operativism and to ensure its development, promotion and its defence. Four socially-based institutions exist under its auspices, made up of both healthcare professionals and users: Autogestió-Sanitària, Soc. Cooperativa CL; Lavinia, S. Cooperativa; SCIAS, Instal-lacions Asistencials Sanitàries, Soc. Cooperativa CL; and ASISA, Asistencia Sanitaria Interprovincial de Seguros, S.A., putting the co-management principle advocated by Dr. Espriu into practice every day.
Its work goes beyond the national arena, as it holds the presidency of the International Health Co-operatives Organisation (IHCO), which is the health sectoral organisation of the International Co-operative Alliance (ICA). Through that organisation, it participates in international health development programmes, including the ILO social extension programme, the Advisory Group for NGOs for the Promotion of Health of the WHO and other similar projects.