In the preliminary budget drawn up by the Ministry of Public Health totaling some RD$59 billion, including the state institutions that handle water (Indrhi, Inapa, etc) with RD$21 billion, the priorities are the items of service, collective health, promotion, primary attention and infrastructure.
“We are not thinking about a salary increase for the doctors, because as you (reporters) know, the situation that we have is not the best, the dispositions ordered by the administration are not just simple rhetoric, this is real,” said the Minister of Public Health. Freddy Hidalgo Nunez said that they are planning some 30 projects for next year, to close the gap between the four regions of the country in terms of Primary Care.
Concerning the austerity plan, he stated that they are thinking about ways of saving on expenses at the Ministry and that they have already reduced fuel consumption, per diems and telephones. “We have reduced everything to do with external workshops and courses. Practically everything is being done inside the institution,” the official said during the Dialogo Libre at Omnimedia.