Virginia Barcones highlights the importance of research and prevention in the fight against cancer

• Underlines the importance of a conference that focuses on the sick and family without forgetting other essential aspects such as scientific research, prevention and detection systems as well as health and social care • The Ministry of Science and Innovation has allocated between 2018 and 2022 more than 480 million to research projects against the disease • Health, through the INVEAT Plan, the Government has transferred to the Junta de Castilla y León more than 38 million euros for the acquisition of 40 high-technology equipment, including linear accelerators to combat the disease • Calls on institutions so that all patients can face the same conditions

September 22, 2023.- The delegate of the Government in Castilla y León, Virginia Barcones, has attended the opening ceremony of the IV Autonomous Congress of Castilla y León for cancer patients and relatives 'Focused on Research' organized by the Provincial Board of Palencia of the Spanish Association Against Cancer (AECC). He highlighted the importance of research and prevention as a weapon to fight the disease.

The event held at the Music Auditorium of the Conservatory of Palencia was attended by the Mayor of Palencia, Miriam Andrés; the Minister of Health of the Junta de Castilla y León, Alejandro Vázquez; the President of the Higher Council of Scientific Research, Eloye del Pino; the accidental subdelegate of the Government in Palencia, Laura León; and the provincial presidents of the Spanish Association Against Cancer.

Virginia Barcones’ first words have been for cancer patients and relatives of those who admire “their courage,” and that “vital position that is deduced from everything they do.” He has also recognized and valued the role of the Spanish Association against Cancer because with their work and know-how they inject “courage to the sick and their families, something that is basic to face this disease”.

The government delegate has pointed out that there is life while fighting cancer and there is life after cancer. In this sense, he explained that “science and medicine have advanced a lot, perhaps more than education and prevention”.

In terms of prevention, health education is essential. Tens of thousands of cancers can be avoided every year thanks to simple gestures: no smoking, no alcohol abuse, no exposure to the sun without protection, maintain a balanced diet… “But when it is detected, when a person must face the disease, he needs all the support that can be given, not only medical, but also social,” said Barcones, who added that this is why the role of the Spanish Association against Cancer is so important.

In the IV Regional Congress, the most important axes on which the disease must be treated will be treated through talks and presentations: Scientific research; prevention and early detection of the disease; different levels of health and social care; and patient experience and the role of the family.

The delegate of the Government has recognized the effort and commitment that the Provincial Board of Palencia of the Spanish Association against Cancer has put in the organization of these days as well as the service it offers to its 3,500 partners.

Services such as the social care it provides in the form of assistance to family members, the loan of material, legal advice. Psychological care, including first-impact care. The occupational workshops and prevention activities and talks that it also offers in companies in which the habit of healthy lives is recommended such as exercising, a balanced diet or avoiding tobacco.

“The fight against cancer is a priority for the government and the commitment to that fight is total, without fissures,” said Virginia Barcones. In this regard, he explained that the Ministry of Science and Innovation has allocated more than 480 million euros to research projects against this disease between 2018 and 2022. “The largest amount of money invested in health research goes to the fight against this disease,” he said.

On the other hand, the Ministry of Health, thanks to the High Technology Investment Plan (INVEAT), has made in 2021 and 2022 an investment of 795 million euros of 'Next Generation' funds that has facilitated the acquisition of up to 851 equipment, many of them essential for the diagnosis and treatment of cancer patients. From that program, more than 38 million have been transferred to the Junta de Castilla y León for the acquisition of 40 high-tech equipment. Among them linear accelerators in Ávila, León, Valladolid and two in Salamanca.

Likewise, the Ministry of Health is aware of the importance of addressing the disease from a broad perspective that combines prevention, diagnosis, therapies, research and care response. “An approach that will achieve a survival rate of 70% by 2030, as proposed by the Spanish Association Against Cancer (AECC), has asserted. In this regard, and in terms of prevention, it has given as an example the screening programs for colon or breast cancer already established in all the autonomous communities or the promotion of the screening program for cervical cancer throughout the national territory.

The Government delegate has called on the public administrations, in the exercise of their functions, to develop policies that allow patients to face the disease in the same conditions. “Those of us who live in this land know that it is not the same to suffer the disease if you are from one province or another and I give as an example mine, Soria. The disease is linked to long journeys, having to move from your home, where your relatives live,” he added.

In this sense, it has described as a “challenge” for the institutions in Castilla y León to get people to focus on fighting the disease, without worrying about the routes they have to take or the expenses that this route will entail.

Finally, the Government delegate recalled that The Spanish Association against Cancer and its volunteers offer hope and encouragement. With their work they become a fundamental pillar in those moments of distress “for the sick and family because the path to healing is full, you know, of difficult moments”.