"The Cohesion and Quality Law, currently in the parliamentary process, contemplates the creation of committee for Social Participation in the National Health System as a body for institutional and citizen participation to guarantee the right to health protection. We have to provide citizens with clear, concise and truthful information because we understand that their participation in our healthcare system is fundamental". These are statements made by Ana Pastor, Minister of Health and Consumer Affairs, who spoke at the opening of the I congress Communication and Health held at the University of Navarra.

According to Ana Pastor, "society's demand for information is growing day by day, and this phenomenon is even greater in the field of health. Citizens want to know not only about the latest advances in medicine, new treatments and therapeutic options, but also how to prevent disease and how to improve their health".

During the meeting, organized by the University Clinic's Communication department , the director of TVE's News Services, Alfredo Urdaci, also participated and moderated a roundtable focused on television. "We are increasingly interested in providing our audiences with information that improves the lives of those who watch us," he said.

Alfredo Urdaci pointed out that "health is a priority for everyone and in our service to the public we must offer news and reports that can help to lead a healthier life, information on the importance of scientific discoveries, and everything that could be an alarm or a threat to public health". purpose In his opinion, it is also very important "to enter into all those ethical debates about the paths that science is taking with the aim of improving our health".

For his part, Ernesto Sáenz de Buruaga focused on the credibility of health information. "It depends on the format. In terms of news, credibility is not so much given by a face as by the channel itself. It is the house news that has credibility or not, and not so much one person or another. However, if we are talking about specific health programs, then the presenter is fundamental. The CEO of Antena 3 cited as an example Bartolomé Beltrán, who also appears on congress: "Even if Dr. Beltrán changes the name of his program, the public will still want to watch this doctor's show".

"Maximum responsibility and prudence for the journalist."

Ángel Arnedo, director of the newspaper El Correo, spoke about journalistic responsibility in this subject of information. "Medicine is advancing at a great pace and great expectations are being created in society around the research of serious diseases. These issues demand maximum responsibility and prudence from journalists," he said.

According to him, "some people suffer from very serious diseases and we cannot give false hopes about the improvement of research. Perhaps the success of a drug can be noted by experimenting on a rat, but it is possible that by the time that vaccine reaches humans, twenty-five years may have passed. We must always put things in the right place and avoid harming patients".