The government of President Juan Manuel Moreno formally requested the Amateur Women’s Association to send “all information, documents and testimonies” of women affected by the failed breast cancer screening program within 10 days. On Monday, the association’s president, Ángela Claverol, increased the number of women diagnosed late to around 4,000, higher than the 2,317 announced by the Andalusian government. The Ministry of Health claims this discrepancy “gives rise to a discrepancy that requires immediate clarification due to its health and social implications” and is requesting this information from the entity.
Ama’s lawyer, Manuel Jimenez, assured the newspaper that Ama has “no obligation” to provide any kind of information to the board. “I’ve had enough lies,” he lamented.
The request, obtained by this newspaper, cites the Andalusian Public Health Law as the legal basis for the request, which it explains is designed to “guarantee a thorough consideration of all possible cases not detected by public circuit courts, ensure compliance with the public administration’s obligations regarding the surveillance and protection of public health, and avoid the occurrence of public alarm due to the dissemination of unconfirmed figures or statements.” Since the testing scandal broke, Amateur women have disagreed with the figures presented by the board. At first it was said to be “three or four cases,” then it was guaranteed to be 2,000, and then the figure of 2,317 was announced. In addition, 90% of the area affected was Virgen del Rocio Hospital in Seville. Claverol on Monday estimated the number of women affected at “almost 4,000” and said: “I think their actions are clumsy. Women are on our side when we have evidence. We have the evidence so we will deal with the actual numbers.”
Moreno’s government controlled the 2,317-person figure and designed a so-called “shock plan” for screening based on that data so that everyone had a mammogram by November 15th and an ultrasound on the 30th of the same month. The importance of these was conveyed at two meetings of the Breast Cancer Screening Program Participation and Monitoring Committee. Mr. Amama did not attend the last meeting, although the chairman left before it ended in anger because he had to sign a confidentiality agreement. The letter guarantees that the information provided will be “treated with absolute confidentiality.”
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