Although the behavior of these diseases cannot be viewed on the Epidemiology Directorate website, because it is outdated, one death from leptospirosis and six reports have already been observed in just one week, the first in 2023. Although the numbers are not available to make comparisons of the behavior of dengue, as of the first week of this year, 70 cases of dengue had been reported, a viral disease that requires epidemiological surveillance and that greatly affects children under 15 years of age.

For the same period last year, 68 cases had been reported. No deaths had been reported as of this date. Hospitals such as Robert Reid Cabral and Hugo Mendoza report a low amount of patients. However, the disease is a latent threat and community collaboration is required to prevent it.

Pérez explained that the alert is issued in a preventive mode, since, in countries of the Southern Cone, such as Brazil and Paraguay, there has been an exponential increase in affected patients.

In this context, the director of Epidemiology, Ronald Skewes, indicated that by the year 2021, in the region of the Americas, 137,000 cases of chikungunya were recorded; 271 thousand cases in 2022, and 30,707 cases during the first four weeks of 2023, marking a pattern of accelerated growth. “That it arrives in the country is a matter of time,” highlighted the doctor.

Swekes indicated that the term “chikungunya” means “The bent man”, alluding to the severe pain that this disease produces throughout the body, making it difficult to walk upright and whose conditions can persist for long months. Other symptoms are fever, rash, and general malaise.

In less than 15 years, the country has gone from less than 25% of its people being overweight to more than 70%, according to the latest survey carried out by the Health authorities in 2021, and that, without the rigor of a scientific study, serves as an indicator of the need to act against a problem that is worsening and causes diabetes and hypertension. 

“31% of schoolchildren are overweight. In less than 15 years, the country has gone from less than 25% of people overweight to more than 70%.” With the causes documented in more than one report and much more consequences, even the economic cost of being overweight has been analyzed, the country has to apply measures so that the balance begins to decline.

But the recommended actions have not yet materialized and the Dominican Republic experiencing the failure of the goals set, despite the millionaire burden that being overweight implies for the State. Controlling overweight will require national policies that go beyond training and information. One first step could be to tax sugary drinks in the country.

Santo Domingo, DR.
The National Health Service (SNS) clarified yesterday that the Padre Billini Teaching Hospital, handed over in the middle of last year by President Luis Abinader, is functioning at full capacity, with its areas and services available to citizens who come to the health center in search of health care.

As announced in a press release last week, the Intensive Care Unit, Operating Theatres, and Admission areas, which completed 100 percent of the iconic hospital’s services, were enabled the previous week.

It is recalled that the modern dental area of Padre Billini was put into service in January. It has two dental units, two periapical X-rays, a sterilizer, and a panoramic X-ray.

The portfolio of services of the health center, available to the public, includes Emergency, Outpatient, Laboratory, Imaging, Haemodialysis Unit, Blood Bank, Pharmacy, Tuberculosis Unit, Nutrition, Pathology, Endoscopy, High-Cost Programme (Rheumatology and Haematology) and Liver Programme. From its inauguration in August 2022 to January 2023, the Padre Billini Hospital has offered 101,174 services, such as emergencies, imaging, and laboratories.

Villa Hermosa

The SNS reported that the Villa Hermosa Hospital in La Romana has the necessary staff and equipment to offer services.

As announced during the inauguration, work is based on a schedule for opening services that begins on 13 March with outpatient consultations (six clinics), laboratory, imaging (ultrasound and X-rays), and dentistry.

On 3 April, the emergency room will come into service; on 17 April, the in-patient ward and the intensive care unit, while on 1 May, the operating theatres will be ready for use, leaving the commissioning process at 100%, just two months after its handover.

During the handover, which took place on the 24th of this month, the SNS announced that the health center has now entered the qualification stage by the Ministry of Public Hea. In this protocol phase, each process is supervised to qualify it and affiliate it to the various Health Risk Administrators (ARS) and thus guarantee the hospital’s and its structure’s sustainability.

The SNS is working on training staff in the proper handling of the advanced equipment available at the facility, and this induction began once the equipment was installed.

The National Health Service reported that as soon as other health centers intervened under the Ministry of Housing and Building (MIVED) management delivered, the commissioning process will begin, which is continuously published during inaugurations.

In recent years there has been an improvement in the application of diagnostic techniques and the use of precision medicine to enhace the efficiency of treatments and patient care and the best strategy in the fight against cancer is multi-disciplinary management: prevention controls, early detection, and equal access.

The topic was exposed by patients and oncology specialists during the discussion “Comprehensive Vision and Cancer Challenges in the Dominican Republic”, held at the Santo Domingo Technological Institute (INTEC). The president of Fundación Un Amigo Como Tú, Juan Manuel Pérez, shared his experience as a survivor of non-Hodgkin Lymphoma. He said that these limitations are compounded by the emotional impact of receiving the diagnosis and the lack of information about the causes of the disease.

He added that cancer patients face late diagnoses and insufficient coverage for drugs and services. In turn, Dr. Mariel Pacheco del Castillo, pathologist and master’s degree in Molecular Oncology, said that today the objective of cancer treatment must be to restore a state of complete physical, mental, and social well-being in patients and not only eradicate the tumor burden.

S.M.L., who supports himself by selling bottles of water and soft drinks in the vicinity of Parque Enriquillo, assured that since last Friday the 17th he has suffered constant diarrhea, although he has not undergone laboratory tests to identify its origin. His neighbors, a family of three made up of a grandfather, his daughter, and his adolescent grandson were on their way to the Félix María Goico Hospital at the time for the same reason: acute diarrhea for several days.

In Villa Francisca, they receive two types of water in the pipeline, one fresh and the other brackish. “Today fresh water came to the tap,” said the lady. Upon noticing the presence of reporters in the area, Ana, another community member, commented that some people do not have bathrooms in their homes, and they throw fecal matter and garbage out into the open, contaminating the environment. The fetid smell corroborated the affirmations of the young mother, who asserted that she could not open the windows to ventilate her home.

A few meters away was Cirilo, a vendor of yaniqueques and boiled eggs, who assured that he had adopted very hygienic-sanitary measures, although “sales are not very good.” “Very clean hands,” he said as he showed them as a sign that they were clean. “Look at the showcase, not a fly gets in there,” he added.

Rivera indicated that only through the Directorate of Access to High-Cost Medications, some RD$9 billion have been made available annually to benefit around 15,000 patients with chronic diseases, which in two years adds up to more than 18 billion in that area. While an amount of RD $5,126,266,797 have been invested in infrastructure (construction, reconstruction, and equipment of 179 health centers).

Likewise, he highlighted the investment of more than RD$3 billion in the budget increase of the Essential Medicines and Central Logistics Support program (Promese/Cal), which went from RD$1,568 million in 2022 to RD$3 billion in 2023.

Deep leaks in the walls, areas infested with humidity, and meeting rooms without tables or chairs. Bathrooms with pipes about to collapse, among other problems that the building presents.

It is thought that a building of more than 50 years of construction drags the absence of maintenance as governments usually do. If that is true, so is the lack of funds that would be affecting the Directorate of Medical Emergencies, where, despite the fact that retired General Juan Manuel Méndez was appointed in June 2022, the administration does not start because the funds destined for the management are not arriving, nor has the general’s work team been approved: administration, human resources the spinal cord of the control and the employees who were appointed to it have still not been paid in seven months.

The teams of doctors and paramedics that provide emergency medical care services, which are reported through 9-1-1, are even worse off.

“People think that whenever they get cholera, they will get diarrhea, no. There are 25% who do not feel anything, who can walk without any problem. There is a 25 % that does not feel anything, that can walk without any problem. This is a disease that can be largely asymptomatic,” said the Health Minister.

Rivera assured that there is reasonable disease control in the border area and recalled that the bulk of active cases in Haiti is in Port-au-Prince.

“The control is day by day. If there is a good vaccination there (in Haiti), we believe it will help us in this care,” said the minister.

The head of the Health Cabinet assured that out of 1.2 million cholera vaccines sent to Haiti, 800 thousand people have already been immunized.

“It will help us less. The more of their population is vaccinated, the less risk for us,” he said.

Market visit

The minister made a tour of the Santo Domingo East Municipal Market, located in the El Almirante sector, to verify the sanitary conditions and the handling of the products offered there and to ensure the maintenance of hygiene measures and good food handling to prevent cholera.

The official indicated that most of the food consumed in this area, which is currently the focus of attention for cholera, is dispatched from this market.

La Zurza declares itself free of cholera after a month without infected persons.
“With the cases of cholera that have been registered we have called attention to the care and handling of food and mainly the consumption of safe drinking water, where there is drinking water and good hygiene with vegetables and other products, there will be no contamination by cholera,” said Dr. Rivera.

He said that as of today, there were only four cholera inpatients and that surveillance is being maintained in the hospitals and the tents set up for the detection and attention of suspected cases in the different sectors of the country.

At the end of the visit, he congratulated the workers and administrative personnel of the market for the favorable conditions in which it is located. At the same time, he asked not to neglect and maintain these levels to avoid the spread of the bacteria.

During the dissertation, the official highlighted that during the two years of administration (2020-2022), some RD 5,126,266,797.59 had been invested in infrastructure and equipment in 179 health centers, saving the State some 5 billion pesos.

He said that in the Directorate of Access to High-Cost Medicines, the government currently invests some 9,000 million pesos annually to benefit about 15,000 patients with chronic diseases.

He stated that the current authorities found the country in a state of emergency, as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, without an efficient protocol, so they sought a rapid and strategic response to implement, given the challenges and needs faced by the nation at that time.

In that sense, he explained the strategies implemented that resulted in the current development of the health sector.

“The health system did not have an emergency plan, and the regulatory and training framework was made more efficient to respond to any pandemic; the first level of care is being renovated, we increased the diagnostic capacity, implementation of mobile hospitals, relations with international organizations and public-private partnership and high training in human resources in health. Through all these initiatives developed by order of our President Luis Abinader, we have achieved what we are today in terms of health,” indicated Dr. Rivera.

In this context, Dr. Rivera said that the government responded quickly to any epidemiological situation that could arise after the passage of natural phenomena, such as the passage through the country of storm Fiona, as well as with preventive actions for smallpox, cholera, and other viruses.

He also detailed the investments made in remodeling, emergencies, new constructions, first-level centers, and specialties such as hemodialysis, oncology units, and diabetic foot, among others.

During his presentation, the official pointed out that President Luis Abinader has a great strategic vision to continue strengthening the health system in the Dominican Republic, such as the healthy municipalities programs with the implementation of the “Change your Lifestyle” Health Routes and the creation of healthy cities in the provinces of San Francisco de Macorís, San Pedro and San Cristóbal.

“From our Ministry of Health we have impacted more than 100,000 people with the Health Route journey in 17 provinces, with some 35 services such as: evaluations, general consultation, pediatric, blood typing, diagnostics, treatments and prevention oriented to non-communicable diseases, psychosocial support, delivery of medicines, National Health Insurance (SeNaSa) affiliation among other services.”

The also president of the Health Cabinet highlighted the achievements made in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic, with which the country guaranteed vaccination for all citizens and was the third country to apply the third dose. Likewise, the government decided to use the drugs Tocilizumab and REGEN-COV in severe patients and was one of the first in the world with the lowest lethality of the disease.

He also highlighted that the country was one of the five nations with the best vaccination rate, the sixth in Latin America in implementing immunization in children, and the third in the region in carrying out Genomic Sequencing, being recognized by the World Health Organization (WHO/PAHO), for the strategies implemented during the pandemic.

The Minister of Health highlighted the different social programs implemented in the area of health, in which he highlighted the budget increase made in the Essential Medicines Program and Central Logistical Support (PROMESE/CAL), which went from RD 1,568 million in 2022 to RD 3,176 million in 2023 for essential medicines, benefiting around 17,000 low-income patients.

He also mentioned the work carried out by entities such as the National Health Service (SNS), SeNaSa, Uniendo Voluntades, the National Institute of Drinking Water and Sewerage (INAPA), the Ministry of Housing and Buildings, among others.

The Minister of Health held the conference at the UTESA University Convention Center at the invitation of the New Democrats External Sector movement, which officials attended, collaborators of the Ministry of Health, members of Congress, and special guests, among other personalities.