2003 – Page 30

The headlines from today’s El Caribe tell the sad story of HIV patients living in the Dominican Republic. According to Alicia Ortega, there have been 32,000 deaths from HIV-related illnesses since the onset of the AIDS crisis. The Epidemic Vigilance Department of the Public Health Ministry estimates that by 2005 there will be 78,000 deaths …

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After months of little or no publicity about the occurrence of dengue fever, Hoy newspaper headlines the preoccupation of doctors in the Cibao Valley regarding the illness. Some hospitals, such as the Luis Morillo King in La Vega, have as many as three afflicted children in each bed. In Santiago, a meeting of the National …

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Hoy newspaper reports that the US$400,000 mobile hospitals the government purchased for the Pan American Games are being distributed to Dominican Institute of Social Security centers. The newspaper had reported that the expensive units were parked near the IDSS headquarters, and were deteriorating for lack of use. Hoy reporters were told that three of the …

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Hoy newspaper reports on the continuing crisis of the public hospital system, pointing out that the government-run Doctor Antonio Musa Hospital in San Pedro de Macoris is practically closed. The newspaper says that indigent patients who require the facility’s services are dying because of a lack of medicines and supplies. For the same reasons, elective …

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Hoy newspaper reports that President Hipolito Mejia visited the installations of the modern hospital being built by the Ministry of Public Health in Los Alcarrizos, in the Province of Santo Domingo. The hospital construction, funded by a foreign commercial bank loan, will reportedly cost Dominican taxpayers as much as RD$800 million. According to the newspaper, …

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El Caribe reports that so far the incidence of dengue has increased by 30%, from 3,072 cases reported in 2002 to 4,430 probable cases this year, according to Public Health statistics. Doctors say this is partly due to the negligence of the public health authorities in carrying out routine educational campaigns this year.

Hoy newspaper reports that the mobile hospitals that were purchased for the Pan American Games have been parked for weeks outside of the Dominican Institute of Social Security and are gradually deteriorating for lack of use or maintenance. The newspaper points out the irony that this should happen in a country that is currently suffering …

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The Dominican Center for Exports & Investments (CEI-RD) reports that exports for the first nine months of the year were up 6.32%. According to the governmental agency, exports stood at US$2.963 billion, which is US$176 million more than reported for January to September 2002. Diario Libre informs that non-free zone exports were up 3.86%, going …

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The governmental commission in charge of the liquidation of the holdings of Banco Intercontinental (Baninter) has announced that as of tomorrow, Wednesday 26 November, the bank will cease to operate. Only the branch located at the intersection of Av. Abraham Lincoln and Nunez Dominguez, in Santo Domingo, will remain open to assist clients with checking …

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As per Decree 1079-03, President Hipolito Mejia authorized the exoneration of taxes on books and magazines entering through customs on grounds that educational materials are necessary tools for the advancement of Dominican culture and learning. Diario Libre also reports that President Mejia signed Decree 1079-03 to permit the exoneration of taxes and tariffs on the …

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