Minister of Public Health Jose Rodriguez Soldevila says that half of the maternity budget of the hospitals in the southwestern provinces goes to services for illegal Haitians, who have crossed the border expressly to receive medical attention. According to a report in Hoy newspaper, half of the women giving birth in the hospitals of Pedernales and Barahona in the southwest, and Santiago are from Haiti and Soldevila says that of the Health Ministry?s budget, more than 8 percent is used to assist the Haitians. ?The health system?s duty is to assist all those arriving at the emergency department. The rest is a matter of border control,? he said. Nevertheless, he urged authorities to tighten security along the border and to find a solution for the growing numbers of illegal Haitians crossing over for medical services and the high costs to the system that these entail. Rodriguez advocates the training of Haitian personnel with the assistance of the Dominican to decrease the burden on Dominican medical services.