In the health sector, the relationship between public administrations and interest groups has become essential. When we talk about health, we are not only talking about the health but also about the physical, social and mental well-being of citizens, the sustainability of the public system and the growth and development of companies and organisations that ensure the preservation of the citizens’ health. For all these reasons, it is becoming increasingly essential to develop a fluid, close and transparent dialogue between public and private interests, hence the growing importance of the role of institutional relations professionals in the health sector as a way of guaranteeing social and business participation in public policies.

In the healthcare field in Spain, there is a complex network of relations between different agents, such as the Government, Autonomous Communities, municipalities, citizens, service providers, etc. Among them, there are different levels of interaction in which it is necessary to align common interests with the participation of all stakeholders. However, in most cases these common interests are diluted by the lack of a direct, effective and transparent dialogue.

Hence the creation of APRI Salud, a group of professionals in institutional relations whose objective is to strengthen the ties between public and private interests in the field of health, understanding health as everything that affects the state of well-being or the balance of the citizen (food, consumption, nutrition, social policies, health, sport, research, etc.).

At the same time, APRI Salud aims to be a meeting point with the Public Administration to make the most of all the capacities that exist between the public and private sectors, in order to achieve the common good.

What is the aim of APRI Salud?

To create a discussion forum that allows the combination of experiences between the institutional and the socio-health fields by adopting a general, independent and transparent vision. APRI Salud is endorsed by a group of institutional relations professionals with experience in the social and health fields that will guide and nurture it. Thus, it will continue to advance towards the professionalization of the sector so that the role of future and present professionals is not distorted, and it will become a close, transparent and reliable channel for political participation.

Who are the members?

APRI Salud was created as an initiative by a group of institutional relations and public affairs professionals whose objective is to highlight the value of public affairs professionals in the health sector. In this way, any APRI member who voluntarily wishes to join and whose main activity is lobbying, interest representation, public affairs or institutional relations in the health sector can become a member of the Committee. To date, the group is composed of:

  • Isabel Aizpun Viñes – General Manager at Globalcomm.es
  • Pedro Alsina Mier – Member of the Public Affairs team of Sanofi in Spain and of the European Public Affairs Network of Sanofi Pasteur.
  • Juan Pedro Auriol – Market Access & Commercial Director Spain & Portugal at Clovis Oncology
  • Victoria Ayala – Director of Government Affairs at Gilead Sciences
  • Alícia Azaña Diz – Director G. Association of Sociocultural Services Enterprises (ANESOC)
  • Paloma Barja de Soroa – CEO and Senior Executive Consultant at Know-Health Consulting
  • Ángeles Barrios – Head of Public Affairs and Stakeholder Relations at EIT Health
  • María Becerril Díaz -Senior Advisory Consultant FTI Consulting
  • Paloma Beltrán – Health Economics – Director of Market Access and Public Affairs for Southern Europe at Boston Scientific
  • Adriana Bonezzi – Secretary General at Marcas de Restauración
  • Antonio Ciardo -Director of Operations at Thuban Group
  • Pedro María Claver – Head of Public Affairs at the Consejo General de Colegios Farmacéuticos (General Council of Pharmaceutical Associations)
  • Belén Codina – Associate Director at Kreab Spain
  • Carmen Conde – Regional Market Access Manager at Amarin Corporation
  • Célia Cortijo Sanz – Head of Government Affairs & Market Access at Coloplast
  • Juan Fran Cuello de Oro Rozas – Business Unit Director Bio Dermatology at LEO Pharma
  • Ana Fernández Marcos – Director of Advocacy, Institutional Affairs & Strategic Alliances at Spanish Association Against Cancer (AECC)
  • Mercedes García Alonso – Public Affairs Manager at LETI Pharma
  • María Tersa García Molina -Director, Government Affairs and Institutional Relations at Abbott
  • Rita Gasalla Regojo – CEO and Partner at Galöw, Healthy Architecture
  • Elena Hernandez Ruiz de Salazar – Associate Director of Government Affairs at Gilead Sciences
  • Juan Francisco Iniesta Cortijo – Director of Innova Health Congress at Executive Forum Spain
  • Alfonso de la Lama-Noriega – Expert in Public Affairs and Business Advocacy in business associations.
  • Ana Lázaro González de la Peña – Institutional Relations & Market Access Manager at BD
  • Oscar Méndez Martinez – Corporate and Institutional Relations at Moore Stephens International
  • Justo Moreno Ubeda – Head of Field Market Access at AstraZeneca
  • Rosemarie Neipp López – Director of Corporate Affairs at Novartis
  • Carlos Parry Lafont – Director of the AstraZeneca Foundation
  • Ruth Pavón del Valle – Co-Founder and Managing Director at LEVIN Institutional Health Affairs
  • Carmen Peña López – Honorary President of the International Federation of Pharmacists and Member of the Governing Council of Cofares
  • Cristian Pérez Gómez – Head of Communication and Patient Advocacy, Oncology Business Unit IBERIA at Takeda
  • Cristina Pinilla – Director of Regulatory and Public Affairs at Hill+Knowlton Strategies
  • Victoria Piñero Alfaro – Regional Access Lead at AstraZeneca
  • Javier Rincón Cruz – Junior Manager of EU Vaccine Policy at MSD
  • Jaime Rivas Bardavio – Associate Director Government Affairs at Insud Pharma
  • María Rodríguez Vázquez – Public Affairs at Sanofi
  • Alfredo Saceda Fernández – Account Director at Omnicom PR Group Spain
  • Elena Saenz García-Baquero – Director in the National Association of Plant Breeders (ANOVE)
  • Javier Sánchez Somoza – Account Manager en Roman
  • Verónica Somodevilla Sepúlveda – Head of Institutional Relations at Italfarmaco
  • Irene Tato – Communications and Public Affairs Consultant in the SocioSanitary sector
  • Laure Yvenou – National Government Affairs Manager at Sanofi

Fields of action

In order to achieve the objectives of APRI SALUD, its members will implement different activities in three main areas: dissemination, training and political interaction.

Dissemination – as a main actor in our sector, dissemination plans are carried out based on what surrounds the public affairs professional in the health field. As part of this, the following questions are answered: what is the role of the public affairs professionals in the health sector? what knowledge should they have? what value do they bring to the organisation? how can their activity be measured? what results can be demanded? etc.

Training – they also promote several mechanisms in order to train their partners in the health field by way of courses and the development of success stories that can serve to share experiences and enrich the activity.

Political Interaction – As experts in the activity of public affairs in health, APRI SALUD will interact with institutional stakeholders, bridging alliances and collaborations allowing positive outcomes for the activity of lobbying in general.