The Public Health inspectors of the Canary Islands have announced a strike due to the "unacceptable precarious situation in which the sanitary inspection services" of the archipelago find themselves. It will begin on May 31 and, according to La Provincia, is expected to extend until September 31.
"We have been demanding improvements in the sanitary inspection service for more than a decade, requesting the personal and material resources to be able to meet the minimum requirements imposed on us by European regulations, since the European Union has been evolving and increasing the demands and in the Canary Islands we continue to be the same and with the same," denounced the Association of Public Health Inspectors of the Canary Islands (AISP) at a press conference offered this Monday.
In it, the group explained that health inspectors, as they are commonly known, are a specialized group made up of pharmacists and veterinarians, who perform "vital functions in the field of Public Health, by preventing diseases that are transmitted through water and food, and when necessary, protecting the health of citizens with the adoption of sanitary police measures, such as the cessation of activities or the immobilization of dangerous foods."
"We carry out this fundamental mission of disease prevention and health protection through the control and surveillance of establishments in order to guarantee the supply and provision of safe water and food," he pointed out, noting that this is "in addition to the work of verifying compliance with prevention measures against Covid-19 in all types of establishments."
An "alarming" lack of personal and material resources
However, they have highlighted the "alarming lack of personal and material resources" that they suffer. "We have an average of one inspector for every 25,000 inhabitants," they have stated, affirming that "the average in the rest of the Spanish territory is one inspector for every 12,000 inhabitants, therefore the Canary Islands is the most precarious Autonomous Community in the country."
"The workload is unmanageable in many areas, to which we have to add the unique territorial characteristics, with the difficulties and particularities of each island, especially those of the smaller islands, and even the programmed actions cannot be fulfilled, to which urgent actions such as alerts, complaints, toxinfection, etc. must be added, which are carried out to the detriment of the previous ones," they indicated.
According to them, "in many cases, sick leaves are not covered nor are vacant positions filled, with entire municipalities left without an inspector for long periods." "The real needs of the services are not assessed, having today the same number of inspectors as in 2007," they added.
Regarding material resources, they pointed out that "in the vast majority of the islands there is hardly any space in the offices to work or the minimum necessary equipment." "The inspection equipment consists of a thermometer and a chlorine meter, and even today the inspection reports are still filled out by hand. The electronic inspection planned for years continues without being implemented," they detailed.
Lack of vehicles
The Association of Public Health Inspectors of the Canary Islands has also highlighted the "lack of vehicles" they suffer, despite the fact that they must travel "within the entire territory, from the central areas of the cities to remote and difficult-to-access areas, often even without paved access.
"There have never been adequate means of transport, and the inspection services have been developed based on the need to use the private vehicles of the inspectors," they pointed out. In this regard, they indicated that although "some vehicles have recently been provided on some islands," they are clearly "insufficient" to cover the real needs of the inspection services.
"The only response obtained when demanding a solution to the problem of traveling to the assigned inspection areas has been the use of the bus, or that it does not even deserve to be commented on," they added.
According to them, "one of the most serious consequences of this situation was experienced, and continues to be experienced, on the island of Gran Canaria, which carried out a reorganization of work contrary to the orders of the General Directorate of Public Function, thus violating the sphere of competence of action, and acting in a discriminatory manner with respect to the rest of the areas, which led to the opening of numerous judicial processes and a detriment to the health of the inspectors themselves, reaching, in some periods, up to 50% of sick leaves."
No regulation to establish and order its functions
The Association of Public Health Inspectors of the Canary Islands has also denounced the "lack of regulation." "We are a very particular group within the administration, with very different functions and dynamics, even compared to other inspection bodies. However, we do not have any specific regulation that establishes and orders our functions," they pointed out.
In this sense, they pointed out that "alerts are frequent due to the detection of risks to public health, situations in which immediate action must be taken." They have said that they do not have "any on-call system that allows organizing the permanent availability of inspectors to attend to them."
Likewise, they pointed out that they have "unique positions in slaughterhouses, which have very specific working conditions, including night hours, work on holidays, and localized guards that do not comply with current regulations" "We are the only health group in the Canary Islands Health Service that does not have regulated night work, localized guards, shift work, work on holidays, etc., and where the guard systems, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, necessary to comply with European regulations, are not legally established," they criticized.
Lack of recognition
To all of the above, they have pointed out that the "lack of recognition" of their work by the administration is added. "Not only because of the abandonment of our service and therefore of public health, but because we are the least valued group among the different inspection bodies, despite carrying out essential tasks of technical complexity, where the character of Sanitary Authority that each inspector holds, gives us the power and obligation to adopt health protection measures in the face of the verification of risks, for which we are individually responsible," they specified.
"No citizen today considers whether tap water may pose a risk to their health, nor do they choose food in the supermarket based on which are safer or which may transmit a disease, nor do they decide which beach they are going to go to on the weekend depending on the water quality, etc., because they feel safe. We provide that security and we have been warning for more than a decade, the precariousness and insufficiency of our service, which is reflected in the inability to guarantee this security, putting the health of the entire population at risk," they added.
Demands
For all these reasons, they demand the establishment of a regulation of organization and operation of the body of Public Health Inspectors that regulates the singularity of the group, as well as a solution to the problem of travel to carry out their functions.
Likewise, they ask that their work be recognized "as essential health personnel", an allocation of personal and material resources appropriate to real needs, and "respect and professional dignity" for the group.
