The president of the Community of Madrid, Isabel Díaz Ayuso, has announced the creation of two new centers specialized in sexually transmitted infections (STIs), which will be located in Alcorcón and in the Chamberí district of the capital.
He advanced this during a visit this Tuesday to the remodeled facilities of the Sandoval Health Center, the device with "the greatest healthcare activity in Spain" and one of the most experienced in Europe in the diagnosis and treatment of STIs.
"El Sandoval is a priority center for the Government of the Community of Madrid, the flagship of our initiatives to address the increase in sexually transmitted infections that multiply year after year," said Ayuso, during his speech.
As he has explained, in it, in operation since 1928 and carrying out HIV infection tests since 1984, more than 40,000 consultations and 72,000 biological tests and determinations are carried out each year, which allows its professionals to determine more than 6,000 infections per year.
It is a reference monographic space, specialized in epidemiological surveillance, prevention, diagnosis and treatment of STIs, and since 2018 it has been integrated into the healthcare structure of the San Carlos Clinical Hospital. It stands out for its great accessibility for patients, since when they present symptoms they do not need an appointment to be treated.
To offer broader coverage, a 155 square meter space has been remodeled, which has allowed the opening of three new consultation rooms, expanding the space for patient triage. Access, equipment and waiting rooms have also been adapted, where humanization work has been carried out in all areas.
Another aspect that has improved has been customer service, since now the schedule is continuous (morning and afternoon), thanks to the hiring of 12 professionals, which increases the number of workers to 50.
The high degree of specialization of its staff in sexually transmitted infections and the availability of its own laboratory, with rapid and conventional microbiological diagnosis techniques, allows the tests to be analyzed on site, thus facilitating patients with the immediate administration of the treatment to follow to limit control your infection.
"Sandoval II and Sandoval III were born with the purpose of taking care of everyone without leaving anyone behind, and above all being there where we are needed most," stressed the president of the Community.
Sandoval sees a very varied profile of patients: men who have sex with men, heterosexual men and women, women who have sex with women, transgender women and sex workers. He has been a reference in the administration of Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis (PrEP) to HIV since this program was launched in January 2020, attending more than 28,000 consultations related to PrEP since then.
Its effectiveness in preventing HIV transmission is evident in the decrease in the number of new diagnoses since it has been administered, while, on the contrary, from January to October 2023, those of other types of STIs such as gonorrhea have increased again. , syphilis and chlamydiasis mainly, confirming a general increase in these infections.
"I hope that together we all take better and better care of ourselves to continue living in total freedom, with the greatest possible security, in the Pride region, of the pride of being the fashion capital in the world, which always has all the advantages but also needs our care," he concluded.
