The Minister of Public Health, Jose Rodriguez Soldevilla, told reporters that the ?negative Campaign? being conducted on Internet sites in Germany and Great Britain is completely baseless. Coinciding with the start of the tourist season, certain unnamed web sites in those
countries have reported that the DR is rife with contagious diseases, such as malaria, dengue, hepatitis, and tetanus. Visitors will find the ?best conditions? prevailing in the DR, he said, but urged tourists to be careful what they eat in the street.
Rodriguez Soldevilla called on journalists to get the message to the traveling public that the DR is safe and substantially free of contagious disease. He attributed the Internet scare tactics to sources eager to divert tourists from the DR to ?other destinations.? Arturo
Villanueva, President of the Hotel and Restaurant Association (ASONAHORES), denounced the ?dirty campaign? against the DR which is being conducted in the two countries that contribute the highest percentages of visitors. Malaria, diphtheria, tetanus and hepatitis B do not appear
disproportionately in the DR. Dengue flares up from time to time in communities where sanitation is poor.
