Health and it's big , big problems.

granca

Bronze
Aug 20, 2007
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We have a good friends, a Dominican family. He works whenever work is available, he is a master builder. The wife also works but on a pretty low salary, all three kids go to school. They normally are able to organise their budget to live fairly comfortably but when illness strikes one of the family the cost of medicines knocks their budget out of control. Today he visited us to try and borrow enough money to pay Luz & Fuerza's electric bill, of course we lent him the money, he has borrowed money before and has always religiously paid it back. We are lucky to some extent because here in LT a French charity group run a free medicine dispensary at our local free public hospital but they don't stock all types of medicine and drugs, for example they don't carry anything for heart problems. Having been brought up in the UK I am used to the concept of free or reduced price medicines.

I think this quandary stinks and if I could think of any way to help this proud family I would, any one any ideas?

Just so you know I went once to this dispensary to get some medicine but afterwards felt so ashamed of myself that that was the first and last time.
 

AlterEgo

Administrator
Staff member
Jan 9, 2009
23,097
6,247
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South Coast
farmacias del pueblo sell very cheap medicine. located in major hospitals and other public spaces like universities:
Gerencia Farmacias del pueblo | PROMESE/CAL

Good advice. Back in February when my husband had to be stitched up after the pickaxe accident, they handed me several prescriptions and sent me next door to fill them, I had no idea it was a 'public pharmacy' until they told me the prices.

The only downside is their hours are sketchy, and that one near us doesn't open until 2 p.m. By then there is a long line of people sitting out in the hot sun waiting for it to open. I was lucky that day, no one was there so I walked right in. Maybe because it was Valentine's Day and they were all home getting beautiful for that night :)
 

mountainannie

Platinum
Dec 11, 2003
16,350
1,358
113
elizabetheames.blogspot.com
http://promesecal.gob.do/wp-content/uploads/2014/06/DIRECCIONES-DE-FP-DE-TODO-EL-PAIS-JUNIO-2014.pdf

There are supposedly two in LT.. one at the hospital in LT and the other at the hospital in El Limon. I know that the French charity does take credit for the hospital one but it is supposed to be run by the government.

Here is a list of the medications which are supposed to be available.

http://promesecal.gob.do/wp-content...stados-de-Precios-Año-2014-FINAL-25-04-14.pdf

One of the main problems that I saw in LT is that the locals are really reliant on "medicines" and pills and going to the doctors. And espically imitating the "gringos" when they go to the private hospital, clinic, run there by the Cubans, which the locals really cannot afford. The Dominicans there do not seem to have the same store of "folk" remedies that are available to a lot of others here.