The Pan American Health Organization (PAHO/WHO) delivered a US$1.6 million donation of medical supplies to help the country combat the spread of the Covid-19 virus. Dr. Alma Fabiola Morales Salinas, representative of PAHO in the Dominican Republic was at the Presidential Palace to make official the donation. She later met with President Luis Abinader and the Health Cabinet coordinated by Vice President Raquel Peña. She was also present for a meeting of the Health Cabinet with the participation of the Dominican Medical Association (CMD) president Waldo Ariel Suero, Health Minister Plutarco Arias and Deputy Minister for Collective Health Ivelisse Acosta, and National Health Service (SNS) director Mario Lama. The meeting was held behind closed doors.
PAHO donated 2,350,000 surgical masks; 464,000 respiratory masks; 50,000 isolation suits and 16,600 protective glasses for distribution to health care workers.
“For our organization, it is a priority to ensure the protection of health care workers, who are in the front line of action to detect, diagnose, care, and help contain the spread of this new virus,” said the PAHO/WHO representative the country, Alma Morales Salinas.
Speaking on behalf of the Cabinet, the Minister of Public Health, Plutarco Arias, thanked the international organization for its solidarity with the Dominican people. “These have been hard days for the whole world and for us in the Dominican Republic, but they have served to show solidarity among each other and this donation of protection gear that we received today from PAHO is a sign of that,” said the official.
Also participating in the donation ceremony and part of the Health Cabinet meeting were: Santiago Hazim, of the National Health Insurance (SENASA);
Adolfo Perez, Director of the Essential Drugs Program and Central Logistical Support (Promese/Cal); and Hernan Rodriguez, Health and Services Advisor of PAHO.
Speaking after the donation ceremony, Dr. Morales made recommendations on actions to be taken to lower the spread of Covid-19:
“I recommend continuing to be vigilant. Check for trends in the data, taking into account the number of tests performed, positivity rating, rate of new cases, the changes in the percentage of ICU beds, and respirators’ use.” She said these indicators will help make better decisions.
Health Minister Arias explained that “a traffic jam” has caused the major delays in delivering the results of Covid-19 tests at the National Laboratory Dr. Defilló in Santo Domingo. The lab receives samples from all over the country. Tests are free for the general public. The Abinader administration is backing efforts to decentralize government lab testing.
On the positive side, Dr. Arias announced that the 100,000 PCR test kits have already arrived and would soon be distributed to improve the country’s testing capacity. At the deadline for Bulletin #160 on 25 August, tests dropped to a low 2,585. The objective is to carry out 7,000 tests a day.
The president of the Dominican Medical Association (CMD), Dr. Waldo Ariel Suero said that the entity had presented 14 recommendations in its first participation in the Health Cabinet. Among these are suggestions on choosing a first group of 1,000 new health care workers and their training.
“We decided that the UASD (Autonomous University of Santo Domingo), the Ministry of Health and the Medical Association are going to endorse the training of ICU physicians and the platform for future training that will be implemented,” he said.
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Hoy
26 August 2020