The political organization Bien Común criticized the Medina administration for allotting RD$1.89 billion in 2019 for events and festivities and only RD$642.6 million to the Neonatal Maternal Health program. The organizations criticized that on average in January, 56 newborns died as well as four women due to pregnancy-related complications, according to a recent bulletin from the Epidemiology Agency (Digepi) of the Ministry of Public Health.
Speaking for the organization, activist Natalia Mármol criticized that the government will be spending 56% more on propaganda compared to the amount put towards collective health services.
“Only by reducing the unnecessary festivities, events and the daily propaganda of the government we could stop the death factories the Dominican Liberation Party (PLD) has turned public hospitals into. Only by reducing the wasteful spending can there be enough resources to improve the care for pregnant women before, during and after the delivery,” he said.
She criticized that the PLD governments have devoted more money to political patronage, corruption and merry-making than to social programs. Marmol pointed to the case of the deputy and sister of President Danilo Medina, deputy Lucía Medina whose foundation received an increase of RD$2 million in funding.
“With the resources received by the deputy and sister of President Lucía Medina of Public Health, the salary of 150 general practitioners or 100 perinatologists, the maternal and fetal medicine specialists who pay for the follow-up and control of pregnancies, could be paid for,” added Kirssy Santana of Bien Comun.
They also criticized the delay in the simultaneous remodeling of 56 hospitals, including the La Altagracia Maternity Hospital.
Bien Común recalled that the Dominican Republic is ranked third in Latin America and the Caribbean that least invests in Public Health, only surpassed by Haiti and Guatemala, with only 1.8% of GDP in 2019. “The worst thing is that the government admits that during the period 2020-2022 investment in health will be reduced to 1.7% of GDP.
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El Caribe
6 March 2019