About 300,000 people in Spain live with inflammatory bowel disease. GETECCU and ACCU are calling for faster diagnosis, equal access to specialist treatment and regular psychological support.
At the Hotel Eurostars Madrid Tower, GETECCU and ACCU presented a ten-point plan for inflammatory bowel disease care. The meeting took place as the 37ª Reunión Nacional de GETECCU began. Their proposals cover diagnosis, specialist access, mental health, employment and social life.
Around 300,000 people in Spain live with Crohn's disease or ulcerative colitis. GETECCU has also linked the figure to a forecast that nearly 1% of Spain's population could have inflammatory bowel disease by 2030. Russpain and Democrata have reported the estimate. The available material does not include independent clinical or government confirmation of that 2030 forecast.
The divide is geographic.
GETECCU says regional differences still affect access to specialist units and innovative therapies. The speed and quality of treatment can therefore depend on where a patient lives. The organisations want equal access to accredited inflammatory bowel disease centres and earlier referrals to specialists.
GETECCU and ACCU presented a ten-point plan in Madrid that links faster diagnosis with coordinated, multidisciplinary care, including paediatric follow-up and the transition to adult services.
The plan came from the Grupo Español de Trabajo en Enfermedad de Crohn y Colitis Ulcerosa and ACCU España. It calls for patients and their associations to take part in care decisions. They would also have a role in improving the health system.
The proposals address visibility and stigma, early diagnosis and professional training. They also call for better coordination between specialists and equal access to accredited inflammatory bowel disease units. Other measures include steadier access to treatment, routine psychosocial support, dedicated care for children and a clearer move from paediatric to adult services.
Several steps are practical.
The plan goes beyond medicines: it calls for broader use of faecal calprotectin, stronger specialist nursing, fewer administrative barriers and regular psychological support. This reflects the organisations’ view that mental health, work and social life are integral to the quality of IBD care.
GETECCU and ACCU want diagnostic pathways to move faster. They recommend wider access to screening tools such as faecal calprotectin. The organisations also support stronger specialist nursing and more accredited units.
They want fewer administrative barriers to treatment. Psychological support should become a normal part of care, they say. Prevention, vaccination and steady public funding for research and innovation are also part of the plan.
Yamile Zabana, president of GETECCU, and Daniel Ginard, its vice-president, outlined clinical and scientific developments at the Madrid meeting. They also warned that the scale of EII is creating a growing public-health challenge.
The burden is growing.
More than seven million people in Europe and the United States are expected to live with these diseases by 2030. That forecast adds pressure to Spain's debate about diagnosis, treatment capacity and continued support. Reports on the Madrid meeting place the Spanish discussion within a wider European trend of rising inflammatory bowel disease.
The same meeting also raised questions about the capacity of essential services. Earlier coverage has examined how automation is entering Spanish food production, including earlier coverage of automation in food production. In EII care, GETECCU and ACCU are asking for something more basic: reliable access to services that already exist or are being proposed.
The national meeting's programme will examine how units of excellence should be organised. It will also look at gaps in mental-health support and quality-of-life assessments. Another session will address urgent bowel movements, a symptom that often receives little public attention.
Specialists will also discuss the benefits, risks and criteria for early treatment with advanced therapies. Care is becoming more personalised, and the meeting will examine how those choices should be made.
That is the gap.
GETECCU and ACCU say a growing patient population cannot be managed through isolated consultations or uneven regional access. Their decalog links faster diagnosis with specialist capacity, equal treatment and psychological care. Spain's response to EII will remain incomplete if those services continue to be treated as separate or optional.
