The Spanish Society of Epidemiology (SEE) has urged that the future State Agency for Public Health be born as a robust institution, equipped with sufficient qualified professionals and capable of making the most of the existing experience in the healthcare system. Furthermore, it demands that its technical rigor, scientific independence, and organizational autonomy be safeguarded.
In coherence with this stance, the SEE requests the Government and the other political forces to maintain the launch of the State Agency for Public Health as a "priority." It considers it essential that it starts operating as soon as possible, but emphasizes that urgency must go hand in hand with a well-designed structure and the recognition of the personnel that will have to support it on a day-to-day basis.
"The current challenges of public health cannot be addressed from generic profiles, but require professionals with specific training and accredited experience in epidemiology and public health, respecting their multidisciplinary nature," the society points out.
In this context, the SEE proposes that public job offers aimed at covering the specialized positions of the Agency include as a requirement training in public health, in areas such as epidemiology, management, or health promotion. Likewise, it demands that the competent administrations explicitly recognize the value of that preparation and of professional trajectories, both to retain accumulated knowledge and to attract new talent.
The organization emphasizes that the creation of a new structure should serve to integrate and leverage the capabilities that already operate in the system. "It is necessary to establish mechanisms so that the talent, technical experience, and knowledge that already operate in the system are fully integrated into the new structure," it points out.
For the SEE, ensuring the continuity of specialized personnel is a key condition for the Agency to be able to perform its function from the very first moment. If that continuity framework is not defined and guaranteed, it warns, the new body could start its activity with insufficient technical capacity.
"Losing or undermining this professional capital would compromise the ability to respond rigorously to the current challenges of public health and to act quickly in the face of future health crises or emergencies," alerts the scientific society.
The SEE maintains, moreover, that the transition process must be faithful to the spirit of the regulation that creates the Agency and safeguard its technical solvency. Law 7/2025, of July 28, provides for the formation of multidisciplinary teams and the development of specific policies to attract and retain talent in public health.
The organization shares the urgency of launching the AESAP, but insists that this deployment preserve the work dynamics that have proven to be useful. "The speed of implementation must translate into operational rigor, reinforcing and preserving the work dynamics that have demonstrated their effectiveness," it states.
For this reason, it demands that the political commitment to the Agency encompass both its activation and the necessary guarantees to consolidate it as a reference institution in public health and as a trusted body for citizens, capable of providing solid information that guides decisions in health matters. As the scientific society concludes, "doing it well" is as crucial as "doing it now."