Government neglects health sector, say housewives

Santo Domingo.- The Association of Housewives, Consumers and ServiceUsers’ Committees described the government’s actions as “a front” and expressed concern at the state of social decay the country is experiencing, whichthey say is affecting the areas of nutrition, employment, social security,hygiene and health services.

“The state shows off the repairs it has made to the largest health centers, which arealways overvalued and are mostly in the capital, but it forgets the ruralareas, where there is not enough equipment or even staff to meet the demandsof patients who cannot afford to travel to hospitals in other towns and cities orin the capital”, said association president Ana Vertilia Cabrera.

She also pointed out that most major health centers are inaugurated once thebuildings have been completed, but before they have been equipped and suppliedwith the medicines that they need in order to operate.

The housewives’ leader called on the Health Ministry to increase itssupervision, saying that health was the most important public service yet mostpeople do not have access to it because they lack the resources to pay for it.

“Despite this they suffocate us with demands for paying taxes, whichthey do not return to us in the shape of the public services that they areobliged to provide”, she stated.

Cabrera warned that housewives were willing to take to the streets indemand of better conditions in the area of health for the poorest sectors ofsociety.