Headlines and interviews have been carrying the increasing concern of hospital directors and the intentions of government officers to do something about the rising burden of Haitian women giving birth in Dominican public hospitals. But for now, it is all but talk.
Cesfront border security agents have been posted at the entrance of the Dr. Elio Fiallo Public Hospital in Pedernales, on the border with Haiti. The agents were posted after weeks of media reports on how the border has become birthing place for Haitian women seeking free and better quality health services than they could receive in Haiti. At Dominican public hospitals, these prenatal and natal services for indigent pregnant women are free, regardless of nationality. This policy has led to the border hospitals becoming a popular choice for thousands of pregnant Haitian women.
The director of the National Health Service, Nelson Rodríguez Monegro said that the country does not have mechanisms to charge for the births at public hospitals, and Dominican taxpayers will continue to cover the cost of thousands of Haitian women who come here to give birth. Rodríguez observed that medical services at public hospitals in Haiti are not free, creating a major incentive for the women to cross the border to receive free and better services.
It is estimated that each birth costs on average RD$30,000. Dominican hospitals also receive a large number of Haitian women that arrive with pregnancy complications, an additional cost burden to the Dominican health system. In 2016, reportedly, Haitian births absorbed RD$5.2 billion, as reported in Diario Libre.
Listín Diario reports that the women arrive at the hospital to receive free services because in their nearby Haitian community, Anse-a-Pitre, Haiti, they have to pay for medical services.
The Provincial Health Agency (Direccion Provincial de Salud of Pedernales) and the hospital staff are in favor of curtailing the number of Haitian births. The hospital recently says that in week 34 of this year, of 16 births at the hospital, 13 were to Haitians and only three to Dominicans.
Dr. Francisco Medrano González, provincial health director, said that the birthing tourism is consuming the monthly budget of the hospital. He said the hospital must also attend to patients involved in accidents and other health emergencies who arrive to the hospital emergency room.
Likewise, Defense Minister Lieutenant General Rubén Dario Paulino Sem said that efforts are being made to stop the illegal trafficking of pregnant women to border hospitals and those in other areas of the country. He said military physicians are interviewing Haitian women to develop intelligence on the so-called birthing cartels. An editorial in Diario Libre focuses on the string of complicities around the birthing tours that starts at the border crossing. Media reports say that the buses that transport the Haitian women pay out RD$500 bribes to each road checkpoint military so they can pass and are unmolested.
Read more in Spanish:
Listin Diario
Listin Diario
El Dia
Diario Libre
Diario Libre
30 August 2017
