Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez on Thursday criticised the conservative opposition’s “immoral” healthcare conduct in the regions where they govern, after a cancer screening scandal provoked outrage.
His comments follow last month’s revelation that hundreds of women in Spain’s most populous region, Andalusia, did not receive their breast cancer screening results.
The regional government run by the conservative Popular Party (PP) said the scandal affected at least 2,300 women who had mammograms in public hospitals in recent years.
READ ALSO: EXPLAINED – The breast cancer scandal that’s outraged Spain
Sánchez said regional powers had misused central funds to benefit elites with tax cuts and other measures, while ordinary citizens suffered — referring to the breast screening scandal.
“This may be legal, but it is undoubtedly immoral and destructive for the middle and working classes,” the Socialist premier said during a parliamentary debate.
Andalusia’s regional authorities have so far not offered clear explanations for the failure.
But they said they planned to boost staffing in mammography units, a move many patients and activists have deemed insufficient.
Several health administrators have resigned, and protests over the scandal have erupted in the southern region.
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Some patients have already announced plans to file complaints against the Andalusian government.
Regional leader Juan Manuel Moreno Bonilla, who is facing elections next year, has apologised.
Spain has a decentralised political system in which regions are responsible for public healthcare.
