The Coordinator of Don Bosco Neighborhood Organizations (Codonbosco) declared 2026 as the Year of Civil Society Against Corruption and Impunity, representing various sectors of the National District and Greater Santo Domingo.
In a press conference, he asked the Chamber of Accounts of the Dominican Republic to carry out an audit of the National Health Service (SNS), because from that instance billions of pesos were handled, destined, according to the authorities, to offer health services with efficiency, effectiveness and quality.
Social and civil society organizations expressed, through a document, that the SNS sought to put into operation the so-called Primary Care Units (UNAP) in the 32 provinces, 258 municipal districts and 155 municipalities of the country. However, according to their opinions, citizens have complained about deficiencies in health services.
Likewise, they pointed out that the construction of buildings in districts and municipalities, many of them needing a hospital for years, has not met the demands of the population.
In a communication signed by the leaders Ángel Guillermo Molina, Alexis Rafael Peña, Fiordaliza Guzmán and José Antonio Mieses, they explain that for these reasons the civil society organizations that they represent turn to Dr. Emma Polanco, so that the institution she directs carries out the audit and thus both they and the public can know how the State resources were spent in that entity.
Among the organizations that make up the request are the Coordinator of Don Bosco Neighborhood Organizations (Codonbosco), the Association of Committees of Housewives of the National District and the Province of Santo Domingo (Acadisando), the Center for Education for Peace, Tolerance and Development (Cepatode) and the Network of Community Organizations of the 27 de Febrero Neighborhood (ReoCofe).
These groups express their concern because during the five-year administration the quality of services, the improvement in medical care, availability of medicines, beds or other priority aspects for citizens have not been visualized.
The organizations assure that their request is protected by article 61 of the Constitution of the Republic, which establishes that comprehensive health is a right of all the Dominican people, along with other rights enshrined in the Magna Carta.
Likewise, they indicate that they are supported by the General Health Law 42-01 and Law 12-06, the latter considered of utmost importance for people who are going through severe mental health situations. In a general sense, they remember that according to the 2010 Constitution and its 2015 reforms, health is a fundamental right in the country.
In the request addressed to Dr. Emma Polanco de Mercedes, the organizations state that they are seeking the Chamber of Accounts to determine whether the billions of pesos used by the SNS between 2020 and 2025 were handled neatly and whether they met the demands of the population.
For its part, the Association of Housewives Committees of the National District and Greater Santo Domingo (Acadisando) expressed its interest in opening mental health, diabetic foot and geriatric service units in hospitals such as Luis Eduardo Aybar, Francisco Moscoso Puello, Félix María Goico, San Lorenzo de Los Minas, Ney Arias Lora and Salvador B. Gautier, given the calamities faced by people with these health conditions.
