On Sunday, the 6th of August the SESARAM-EPERAM computer system was the target of a cyberattack suspending all non-emergency clinical activities.
Today, in exclusive statements to JM, the Regional Secretary for Health and Civil Protection, Pedro Ramos, who is on a trip, representing the Regional Government, agreed to speak on the subject for the second time.
Condemning this attack, which he classifies as a “catastrophe,” Pedro Ramos laments the lack of unity among Madeirans and adds that SESARAM will work on improving the system, having learned from the situation. He went on to lambast those who are using the situation for their own political agendas, stating:
“Not everyone defends Madeira. I have seen that some have used this for their political ends, this only shows who they really are, and that they do not value the island’s population but are more interested in looking good themselves by using a catastrophe to further their political ambitions. This is a computer attack on an area that is extremely important to our population. It was an attack on our clinical files, on our health professionals, an attack on the users of the Autonomous Region of Madeira,” he said.
Taking an upbeat approach, Pedro Ramos stated that “catastrophes are always terrible situations, but they are always opportunities” to change.
“And that’s what SESARAM is going to do, that’s what the Regional Health System is going to do: learn from this computer attack that happened. The problem is that Health is a desirable target for ransomware, malware, phishing, and smishing, and we have to learn from this and become stronger.”
Concluding, Pedro Ramos thanked all the regional health professionals for the way they worked with the clinical teams. Lastly, Pedro Ramos also thanked those working at the Ministry of Health who assisted in recovering some of the files through the National User Registry.
According to another statement issued, the Regional Health Service is functioning, limitations persist in particular in terms of carrying out some consultations, examinations, and non-urgent clinical analyses.
“Everything is being done to minimise the constraints resulting from the computer attack,” and that specialised computer teams have built a parallel network necessary for the recovery of SESARAM’s internal system, and ask:
“That all those using the island’s health units, for different reasons, be accompanied by all the clinical information they have in their possession, including examination reports, clinical analyses, medication, and discharge notes. For those using the NHS mobile applications please allow for the doctor’s report to be available so that repeat prescriptions can be arranged without delay.”
The Board of Directors thanks users and professionals for adapting and readjusting to the new reality, which they consider to be temporary.
Samantha Gannon
info at madeira-weekly.com
