Presentación del Director

The New Government:
Is the Ministry of Health back?

Diego Peláez Mejía, MD
Executive Director
Colombian Society of Anesthesiology and Resuscitation, Scare.

On behalf of the Executive Board of the Colombian Society of Anesthesiology and Resuscitation, Scare, allow me to extend to you a cordial greeting through the Revista Colombiana de Anestesiología No 3, 2010. I want to avail myself of this opportunity to discuss with the medical community of anesthesia three topics of interest. First of all, I would like to highlight the change in government. After eight years of the past administration, this change brings about renewed hope for health care in Colombia. In our capacity as a scientific-professional Society we have high expectations with regards to the design of public policies to be implemented in our country in the next four years. There are a lot of challenges we have to face between 2010 and 2014 in the health sector in terms of the accomplishments through the "medical workshops" (Mesas Laborales del Médico) that are currently taking place within the framework of a decent work Program, an agreement between the Government and the International Labor Organization, ILO.

Secondly, the appointment of the new Minister of Social Protection, Mauricio Santamaría, an experienced researcher from the National Planning Department and Fedesarrollo, —an outstanding economic research center in Colombia—, makes us foresee a thriving public health agenda. We hope that the Ministry of social Protection will certainly be supportive and amenable to our professional association.

Finally, within this framework we will be looking forward to the amendments to the 247 Bill of 2010, including some changes to the General System of Social Security in Health. Certainly this will bring about changes in the Colombian health system and result in new conditions that should encourage the ethical and responsible practice of anesthesia, in keeping with the highest quality and safety standards.

Sincerely,