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What is your work as a physician of a
proprietary prevention service that mo-
nitors the health of workers?
The work of a physician essentially involves
preventing illness, not only those caused by
our professional activity, but also from a ho-
listic approach. The aim is to create social
awareness on prevention. To achieve this,
we perform the following functions:
•
Promote:
encourage the active invol-
vement of workers as the protagonists
of their health (healthy lifestyle).
•
Provide care:
provide the necessary
care in the event of emergencies.
•
Assess:
assess the corporal damage
after a health problem, whatever its
origin.
•
Manage:
resources and activities
such as the confidentiality of medical
records.
•
Research:
Scientific investigation on
work-related problems and their cau-
ses.
•
Train:
identify, design, execute, and as-
sess training activities.
Is it advisable to have a medical check-
up following the timetable determined
by the Medical Services?
We should realise that the only way to as-
sess or health is though a medical check-
up. We cannot not overlook the fact that
many diseases are silent, that is, no symp-
toms are evident until the condition is at a
very advance stage and the consequences
are often irreversible, such as with diabetes,
high blood pressure, high cholesterol, liver
disease, etc.
It is also worth bearing in mind that the cu-
rrent regulations contemplated in the Act
for the Prevention of Occupational Hazards
defines mandatory protocols for some acti-
vities and establish a timetable for medical
checkups.
What role can the Medical Services
play Health Promotion programs?
I believe that the role of the Medical Ser-
vices is essential since, given that the
goal of these campaigns is to improve the
quality of life of people, no one is more
capable of encouraging healthy con-
ducts, habits, consumption and lifestyles,
as well as of developing health programs
to tackle the pathologies in our commu-
nity.
Our company’s main
assets are its workers and,
therefore, we are under
the obligation of
implementing
all the measures necessary
for preserving and for
promoting their health