The Asthma Unit of the Doctor José Molina Orosa University Hospital, a center attached to the Ministry of Health of the Government of the Canary Islands, has been accredited by the Spanish Society of Pulmonology and Thoracic Surgery (SEPAR) as a Basic Asthma Unit, a recognition that guarantees the quality of care of the center in the diagnosis, treatment, and monitoring of patients with this chronic disease.
With this accreditation, Molina Orosa joins the network of units recognized by SEPAR, which seeks to standardize care criteria, strengthen the training of professionals, and promote research in asthma.
Accreditation as a Basic Asthma Unit is granted to practices led by pulmonology specialists who dedicate part of their activity to the management of the disease and who have specific diagnostic tests and a recognized organizational structure within the hospital, and after passing demanding quality, teaching, and research criteria.
The pulmonologist in charge of the unit, Berta Román, believes that "the accreditation is an important step for our hospital, which guarantees patients in Lanzarote specialized care, with quality protocols and professionals specifically trained in the management of asthma. From this unit, we offer the asthma patient a personalized and comprehensive clinical approach, which allows us to recognize their individual needs and adapt the treatment to their own characteristics, to their type of asthma, with the ultimate goal of improving their quality of life."
Asma
Asthma is a highly prevalent condition that affects more than three million people in Spain, with a major impact not only on patients but also on society in terms of quality of life, work and school absenteeism, resource consumption (consultations, hospitalizations), and deaths.
This disease affects between 10 and 12% of the child population and 5% of adults, and in most cases, almost 90% of cases can be kept under control with appropriate treatments. However, between five and ten percent of asthma patients have severe asthma, meaning that despite undergoing appropriate treatment and trying to avoid triggering factors, they are unable to control the disease. These patients require more specific and novel therapies such as biological treatments.
The manager of the Lanzarote Health Services, Pablo Eguia, points out the effort of the Pulmonology section to achieve this accreditation, which implies a recognition of the quality of their work. With this achievement, the Molina Orosa Hospital reinforces its commitment to healthcare excellence and continuous improvement in the care of respiratory patients, given that when an Asthma unit is available, the patient is managed in a more structured and organized way and in a multidisciplinary way, which optimizes resources and achieves disease control in most cases.