Mandatory health check-up for Poles? A surprising proposal in the Sejm

The main message of the event - organized jointly by the Sejm of the Republic of Poland, the Supreme Medical Chamber and the College of Family Physicians - is to reach an agreement across divisions to improve the quality of treatment.

Without an inspection there will be no insurance?

During the part devoted to sector reform, prof. Małgorzata Gałązka-Sobotka emphasized that health is the foundation of state security and should be treated not as a cost, but as a key investment. She also noted that the activities developed must focus on building and multiplying the health capital of the entire society, and not only on reacting when the disease occurs.

Health is a value that can be accumulated, but it can also be lost. Epidemiological data clearly show that we have not yet learned how to properly manage this capital. Without it, we will not be able to develop either dynamically or safely - both in the social and economic dimensions - said the expert.

She added that every zloty invested in prevention and health maintenance brings an up to four-fold return, measured, among others, higher productivity and better use of human capital. For this reason, she believes that the continuity of citizens' health insurance should be linked to the regular completion of compulsory preventive examinations.

How to shorten the path to benefits?

The president of the Supreme Council of Nurses and Midwives, Mariola Łodzińska, also commented on the need for changes in the organization of care. She pointed out that the starting point for any reform must be to provide patients with quick access to services.

We should start health care reform with a key question: how to ensure that the patient receives proper help without unnecessary waiting? Today, barriers to access to primary care physicians, specialists and home care remain a challenge. A shortened path to benefits is our primary goal and only the beginning of changes, noted Łodzińska.

How would Poles pay for treatment?

The debate participants also recalled the social dimension and universal nature of the public medical care system in Poland, emphasizing that without state health care, as many as 95 percent Polish women and men would not be able to afford to cover the costs of treatment.

The participants in the National Health Debate include: representatives of doctors and the social side. The Ministry of Health is represented by Deputy Minister Tomasz Maciejewski. Announcing the event organized by the Sejm, Speaker of the Sejm Włodzimierz Czarzasty stated that "the debate will not fight anyone, and will result in a great plan for the good functioning of health care." Just before the meeting began, Czarzasty told journalists that he treated this meeting as a cross-party affair.

During the opening of the meeting, the Marshal of the Sejm emphasized that health is an area without political colors and appealed to politicians to listen to the voice of doctors and patient organizations. Czarzasty pointed out that health is a public good on which social cohesion and the stability and development of the economy depend.