Madrid allocates 414,581 euros to the Red Cross against tuberculosis and HIV

The Community of Madrid, through the Regional Ministry of Health, will provide 414,581 euros in funding for specific tuberculosis and HIV infection prevention actions that the Spanish Red Cross will develop during 2026 among high-risk groups and disadvantaged populations. The agreement was signed on September 2, 2026, by the Regional Minister of Health, Fátima Matute Teresa, and the secretary of the Autonomous Committee of the Spanish Red Cross in Madrid, Francisco Gabriel Sánchez Parodi. The text is published in the Official Gazette of the Community of Madrid (BOCM) no. 224, of September 19, 2026, section I.D Announcements, with the reference BOCM-20260919-7.

A nominative grant with budgetary backing

The agreement establishes a nominative grant in favor of the Spanish Red Cross to finance prevention activities in vulnerable population groups with risk factors predictive of poor treatment adherence. The amount is provided for in Law 6/2025, of December 23, on the General Budgets of the Community of Madrid for 2026, charged to item 48079 of program 313B —Public Health Actions—, and is also included in the Strategic Grant Plan approved by Order 2178/2024, of December 13, as amended by Order 293/2026, of February 20.

The collaboration between both institutions is not new. The Regional Ministry of Health and the Spanish Red Cross signed a health collaboration protocol on December 3, 2002, and a Framework Agreement on November 24, 2021, extended on November 11, 2025, from which annual specific agreements, such as the one now published, derive. The text invokes article 2.1.h) of Royal Decree 415/1996, of March 1, which sets the institution’s purpose as participation in health prevention and promotion projects with special attention to the most disadvantaged groups.

The agreement itself justifies the action on the grounds that tuberculosis and HIV infections, according to epidemiological surveillance studies, continue to be a public health problem in the region and in its national and supranational environment. As these are transmissible diseases with long-term treatments, therapeutic abandonment can generate drug resistance; therefore, Directly Observed Treatment (DOT) and Supervised Treatment (ST) are prioritized.

Planned actions for 2026

Annex I of the agreement details the activities that the Spanish Red Cross must execute:

• Monitoring adherence to tuberculosis and HIV treatment through DOT or TS, with periodic contacts with the medical or nursing staff who referred the patient.
• Administration of medication via mobile units, in the physical presence of the patient wherever they may be.
• Notification of all cases under treatment to the Regional Tuberculosis Case Registry of the Community of Madrid and the HIV/AIDS Infection Surveillance System.
• Collaboration in contact studies for tuberculosis cases.
• Review and update of vaccination status according to the 2026 Lifelong Vaccination and Immunization Calendar of the Community of Madrid.
• Individual and group health education aimed at children, adolescents, and their families, using materials adapted to their age and maturity.

Means, monitoring, and deadlines

To develop the program, the entity will have five or more technical teams composed of two people—a graduate or diploma holder in nursing and a technical assistant in the health or social integration field—on a full-time basis of 35 hours per week, in addition to one coordinator with a dedication of no less than 20 hours per week. Cruz Roja (Red Cross) will provide a vehicle for travel and a physical headquarters equipped with a mobile phone and materials.

Monitoring will be the responsibility of a Joint Commission that will be established in the month following the signing and will meet at least every six months. For the Community of Madrid, it will be composed of the head of the Sub-Directorate General for Public Health Surveillance, who will preside, and a civil servant with a minimum rank of Technical Unit Head as secretary; for the Spanish Red Cross, the Direction of the Health and Environment Department and the Coordination of HIV and Tuberculosis Projects.

The agreement enters into force the day following its signing and extends until February 28, 2027, with a grantable period from January 1 to December 31, 2026. Payment will be made in a single lump sum in advance, exempt from guarantees, and the justification of expenses must be presented before February 28, 2027. Non-compliance will lead to reimbursement in accordance with Law 38/2003, of November 17, General Law on Subsidies, and Law 2/1995, of March 8, on subsidies of the Community of Madrid.

Public health impact

The continuity of this program sustains direct care for groups with the greatest difficulty accessing the healthcare system and lower adherence to prolonged treatments, precisely where therapeutic abandonment has the most serious consequences. By linking funding to the notification of cases to regional registries and epidemiological surveillance, the agreement reinforces the control of two transmissible diseases whose evolution is closely monitored in the Community of Madrid.

Source: Official Gazette of the Community of Madrid, no. 224, of September 19, 2026, section I.D Announcements, pages 78-87 (official reference: BOCM-20260919-7).