After two editions focused on the pandemic, advances in Oncology have starred in the latest edition of the ABC Salud awards. The jury, chaired by Ana Pastor, second vice president of Congress and former Minister of Health, has recognized the innovation of projects that improve diagnosis and treatment, as well as the clinical and research work of the Catalan oncologist Josep Tabernero. But also the drug that protects the heart, advances in reproduction and strategies against Covid in the eight categories that distinguish these awards.
As in previous years, ABC Salud has had an exceptional jury. In addition to Pastor, the following have taken part: the former Deputy Minister of Health of Madrid, Antonio Zapatero; the director of the ONT, Beatriz Domínguez; the director of the Carlos III Health Institute, Cristóbal Belda; Federico de Montalvo, vice-rector of the Pontifical University of Comillas, María Blasco, director of the CNIO and Nuria Ramírez de Castro, editor-in-chief of Society. These are the awards:
Doctor of the Year: Oncologist Josep Tabernero
Director of the Oncology Institute of the Vall d’Hebron Hospital in Barcelona, Josep Tabernero is an international benchmark in colorectal cancer and digestive tumor research. His research, applied to the clinic, has changed the treatment of patients with the design of more effective targeted therapies, in what is called precision oncology. Former president of the Spanish Society of Medical Oncology, he has also contributed to the approval of more than 40 cancer drugs.
Public Hospital: San Carlos Clinic for its Reproductive Immunology Unit
In 2018, the Madrid hospital launched a functional Reproductive Immunology unit, a pioneer in Spanish healthcare. Dedicated to the diagnosis, treatment and gestational monitoring of couples with recurrent miscarriages or implantation failure after fertility treatments they have achieved a gestational success rate of 94%. Silvia Sánchez-Ramón is in charge of this pioneering unit in which research is combined with clinical practice.
Private Hospital: Quirón Madrid Proton Therapy Center
Private healthcare has been a pioneer in setting up the first proton therapy centers, the most precise radiotherapy against cancer. Less harmful and effective, allows to attack the tumor reducing the risk of damaging healthy tissues compared to conventional radiotherapy techniques that use photons or electrons. The Quirónsalud proton therapy center in Pozuelo (Madrid) was the first to be built in Spain. From there, it cares for patients from all over the country, in collaboration with public health.
Best medicine: The polypill that protects the heart
Cardiologist Valentín Fuster had a happy idea: why not combine the three drugs that are prescribed after a heart attack in a single pill? In this way, the intake was simplified and the patient’s forgetfulness was fought against. That idea materialized in a polypill developed by the National Center for Cardiovascular Research (CNIC) with the Ferrer laboratory. The drug is not only a more comfortable option, it is also more effective because it reduces mortality after a heart attack by 33%.
The members of the jury, from left to right: Antonio Zapatero, Beatriz Domínguez, Ana Pastor, Cristóbal Belda, Federico de Montalvo and Nuria Ramírez de Castro
Health technology: AI to diagnose cancer
The artificial intelligence has become the best ally of cancer diagnosis. The Fujifilm system refines the diagnosis of each patient. It does so in endoscopy equipment for colon cancer screening and is capable of generating a prediction about polyps suspected of becoming malignant. In the breast, they also make it easier to identify lesions that might be difficult to visualize on traditional mammography.
Nursing: ‘Maternity Blues’
This nursing program at Hospital Sanitas La Zarzuela has made it possible to have an emotional support unit for women suffering from postpartum depression or dysphoria, whose disorder often goes unnoticed.
Pharmacy: Test delivery in Madrid
Between December 2021 and March 2022, Madrid pharmacies dispensed more than 4.6 million covid-19 self-diagnostic antigen tests free of charge to stop the spread of the infection at a time of increasing incidence. The Madrid pharmacists actively and selflessly contributed to the control of the pandemic.
Best foundation, Mundo Sano
The Mundo Sano foundation has been working since 1993 for the victims of diseases that have been neglected by the rest of the world and that 1,600 million people suffer from. Chagas, dengue, zika or leishmaniasis, among other infections that are expanding in a global world. Mundo Sano has worked especially so that many people have access to treatment for Chagas disease.