Healthcare System (Spain)

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Spain's healthcare system is the Sistema Nacional de Salud (SNS), a universal health system that covers 99% of the Spanish population and is funded by general taxation. The administration is divided at the national and regional level, with the national level managed by the Ministry of Health, Consumer Affairs and Social Welfare, whereas the 17 regional health departments manage the regional level. Both collaborate through the SNS Interterritorial Council in order to implement policy at the regional and national level.

The General Secretariat of Digital Health, Information and Innovation of the SNS is the body responsible for implementing the Digital Health Strategy of the SNS, which aims to improve the health of every Spanish citizen through the increased adoption of digital health solutions for healthcare and the development of infrastructures that allow providers to use data to help their patients.

The Instituto de Salud Carlos III (ISCIII) is a public research agency integrated with the Ministry of Science and Innovation and the Ministry of Health, and is responsible for conducting health research that aims to improve the health of the people, offer scientific and technical advice for policymaking, as well as develop educational programs for the entire SNS system.

The Spanish Network of Cancer Registries (REDECAN) was created in 2010 to assure the quality of information related to the incidence, survival, and prevalence of cancer in Spain and improve collection and analysis of this data, originally collected by the individual communities' cancer registries of Spain. It monitors plenty variables including cancer trends, geographic distribution, impact of cancer prevention and treatments.

Other major institutions related to healthcare and health research include the National Institute of Statistics and the National Drug Agency.