The government has abolished all taxes on medicines and the raw materials used in their manufacture, as well as some unspecified agricultural supplies. This came on the heels of a decree by President Hipolito Mejia, with the aim of easing the burden on the country’s poor. “The people will begin to feel the benefits of this social investment in the next few days,” announced the President. Hoy newspaper’s main editorial welcomes the announcement, saying it would assist “the weakest layers of society,” whose situations have intensified recently by the peso’s devaluation and steep price rises. The resulting deficit would have to be compensated from other sources, says the writer, and the President is hoping that this will come from the 5% tax on exports and other income-generating mechanisms. The editorial continues by outlining the difficulties experienced by lower-income families dependent on medications, especially when it comes to imported drugs. The writer calls on the government to do more to promote national manufacture of generic drugs, which is currently restricted by international trade agreements. Generic drugs are much cheaper than their brand-named counterpart from abroad. The generic drugs that can be legally manufactured in-country are those whose patents have expired. According to the editorialist, higher interests exist, possibly in certain international embassies, which act to ensure that even these legal generic drugs are not produced, at the expense of the Dominican poor who are instead forced to buy the expensive imported brands.