The regional government has 1.1 million for this year and the measure will benefit 1,185 people
SANTA CRUZ DE TENERIFE, Jan. 4 (EUROPA PRESS) –
The Government of the Canary Islands has signed a new agreement with the España Salud Foundation that guarantees health coverage for Canarians or descendants of Canarians in a vulnerable situation residing in Venezuela, which implies the replacement of all medical assistance services and access to medicines that organization unilaterally stopped lending since January 1 of this year.
The Cabildo of El Hierro, through the Garoé Friends Association, had warned this Wednesday that services were no longer provided and even committed funds to serve the people of El Hierro residing in the South American country.
Specifically, it is a new agreement at the end, after three annual extensions, of the one that the regional Executive signed in 2019 with the Spain Health Foundation, an agreement that sets the same services to be provided and cost per user as the one signed now for six months.
Currently, 1,185 Canarians or descendants of Canarians residing in Venezuela benefit from this health care by meeting the conditions of vulnerability set by the Government of the Canary Islands and not being protected by the State, which only provides medical support to Spanish citizens over the age of 65 years old and with non-contributory pensions.
The new agreement is the achievement of aid for medical assistance and access to medicines that the Autonomous Community launched in 2009.
During these 15 years of validity, the Government of the Canary Islands has contemplated in its budget an economic item to guarantee health coverage for Canary Islanders in vulnerable situations in Venezuela and in 2023, 1.1 million euros were allocated for this purpose, an amount that It remains in the 2024 accounts.
The Deputy Minister of Foreign Action, José Luis Perestelo, has been working for several months on the signing of a new multi-year agreement with the Spain Health Foundation that guarantees the continuity and even improves the medical coverage of Canarian citizens in Venezuela.
For the Government of the Canary Islands, the end of the extension of the previous agreement was an opportunity to update the services to be provided, the cost per user, compliance monitoring and quality control, it reports in a note.
MEETING WITH THE CENTRAL GOVERNMENT NEXT WEEK
With the aim of achieving this and once assistance is guaranteed for six months, Foreign Action will analyze the situation with the general director of Spanish Citizenship Abroad and Return Policies, María Elena Bernardo Llorente.
The Government of the Canary Islands already conveyed its intention to improve the agreement to the representative of the State last December and will do so again next week.
Perestelo considers it “essential to seek joint solutions” among all institutions on “such sensitive” issues because “the important thing is to guarantee the best medical care and medicine coverage” to the Canary Islanders or descendants of Canary Islanders in a vulnerable situation in Venezuela.
In his opinion, the six-month extension of the agreement with the Spain Health Foundation will provide time to “do it calmly”, while the beneficiaries of this aid keep their health coverage intact.
