Digestive surgeon and Vice President of Asomega. Former medical director at the National Hospital for Paraplegics and medical deputy director at the Virgen de la Salud Hospital in Toledo.

"From Asomega we want to thank the Amancio Ortega Foundation again for all the help it has given to Spain to mitigate the devastating effects of this pandemic."

Q_ As a manager and former medical director at the National Hospital for Paraplegics, how have you seen the efforts of the hospitals in the fight against this pandemic and if you think there are any that have been especially relevant?

A_If there is something that stands out about the management of the pandemic by the hospitals of the National Health System, it has been their incredible capacity for transformation when faced with something new, which they have not had to face before. From the hospitals themselves, and led by the professionals themselves, without great guidelines or "supra-institutional" guidelines, we managed to "mutate" in a very short time the entire existing organization to respond to the entry and care of patients with COVID disease- 19) This has been the general trend, great professionals who, to a certain extent by “spontaneous generation”, supposed organization and communication between the different departments conceiving a new Covid19 monographic hospital within a general hospital.
None of them can be highlighted, mainly because comparisons must be made with objective data on activity and response, and that not all hospitals have had the same care burden or the same severity of the cases attended, all due to the differences themselves. of incidence and prevalence of Covid19 in the different Spanish geographies.

Q_ Are you managing in some way that the doctors, not only the Galicians but also other communities, obtaining a plus of danger and not only applause for their actions in the recent health crisis?

A_Me is aware that there are several organizations, both hospitals and regional health services, that have already considered contemplating a plus of danger for health care during the pandemic, both for medical personnel and other health personnel, although they are financial compensation for not very high amount. Q_ Do you think that the behavior of the virus can be predicted by being similar to other previous pandemics such as the Spanish Flu or the Black Death? R_Unfortunately today, May 18, 2020, the behavior that the SARS-COV 2 virus will have cannot yet be predicted. It is a virus that has broken into our lives less than 6 months ago and we still cannot know how it will evolve. . You have to give time to the time, at least one year to have the results of the studies that are specifically carried out, both in the dynamics of the virus itself (its spread across different continents at different seasons of the year) and the response itself of people after their infection in the medium and long term

Q_As vice president of Asomega, is there a message that you want to leave so that everyone is aware of the prevention measures of Covid19?

A_The best vaccine we have right now for Covid19 is to maintain social isolation and the hygienic and protective measures that the health authorities are recommending to us. We must maintain a distance of at least 2 meters with people who do not live with us and use the masks in most of the occasions that we are outside our house, mainly in closed spaces or where there is a greater concentration of people. Frequent hand washing is essential, and in its absence we can use hydroalcoholic gels to disinfect our hands often, always taking care not to touch our mask and much less our face without proper hand disinfection.
We must be respectful and follow the rules. We must think of all the doctors and health workers who continue to care for us in hospitals, many having been isolated from their families, many have become ill and unfortunately some have died. We cannot skip the rules of distancing until the health authorities indicate that it is safe to do so.

Q_ Is the name of the next "Professor Nóvoa Santos XXII" award for this year 2020 known or, failing that, for the year 2021?

A_Well, at this moment, the next call for the XXII Nóvoa Santos award has not yet been decided on the Asomega Board of Directors. We are waiting to have an extraordinary meeting of the Board for it. When we have decided we will communicate it conveniently. Obviously, not having a call yet, it is impossible to have the name of the winner.
On the other hand, I would also like to mention other pending activities of Asomega for this and next year, the delivery of the 2020 Golden Badge and the II World Meeting of Galician Doctors after the first one held last year in Santiago de Compostela, which was a resounding success. All these activities will be conveniently reported through our website and social networks.
It should be noted that, despite being the year of the pandemic, two other new projects for this 2020 have already come to light and can also be followed from the website and the RRSS: Asomega Muller, led by Dr. María Rodríguez and Asomega Nova led by Dr. Felipe Couñago, projects in which Asomega has been very excited and we hope they are well received by our partners and the health sector in general. Interestingly, Asomega Nova has seen the light today!!

Q_ What is Asomega's position regarding donations from the Amancio Ortega Foundation for medical research?

A_From Asomega we are in favor of all the patronage initiatives that may occur in our society towards the health sector, both from the point of view of research and health care. Just a year ago, Asomega made a statement acknowledging and publicly thanking the Amancio Ortega Foundation for the generous financial contribution it has been making in recent years to acquire the latest generation diagnostic and therapeutic technology for the fight against cancer in our country.
Once again, and now from SmartVigo, from Asomega we want to thank the Amancio Ortega Foundation for all the help it has given to Spain to mitigate the devastating effects of this pandemic.

Vigo, May  2020. By Ania Casal