The 72-hour medical strike announced for this Monday, June 13, adds support not only from health professionals, but also from the National Confederation of Professionals, as announced Wilfredo Anzoátegui, president of the Departmental Medical College.
The measure that was determined by the National Health Council (Conasa) warns that it will be followed throughout the national territory. The doctors demand a dialogue with the Government so that their petition (about 14 points) is addressed.
“We are not asking for anything extraordinarywe only want a dialogue on the points that the entire population already knows and that aim to improve the health system that we have today”, assured the doctor in time to clarify that this sector will remain firm in its demands, since the situation in hospitals is increasingly worrying.
According to the doctor’s analysis, we are in the midst of the fifth wave of covid-19 and there is not enough equipment, space or staff to face any contingency.
“We are asking for the repeal of the Sanitary Emergency Law because it is not being complied with, there is no equipment, there are no resources and that is the responsibility of the Ministry of Health and it does not comply”.
The request to the population
Anzoátegui guaranteed that neither the Emergency services nor the current vaccination points will be neglected.
“The people must join our demandsbecause what we are asking for is to improve attention for them, so that they do not queue at dawn, despite the rain or the cold. So they don’t have to wander around looking for intensive care, so that health is a priority and for that we ask the minister to dialogue”, he remarked.
According to the Society of Critical Medicine and Intensive Therapy, in Bolivia there are only 500 beds available for a population of more than eight million inhabitants. During the pandemic, the number of therapies had grown to 550, but in some regions, once covid cases fell, 50 were dismantled.
At Children’s Hospital, staff revealed that they do not have a defined strategy for the fifth wave. Moreover, they lack doctors for emergency care in the afternoon and night shifts.
The Japanese Hospital must also redouble efforts so that the teams and human resources can meet the demand of the patients who come there daily.
In addition, the 500 expired contracts that have not been renewed for professionals who treated patients with covid.
Government
The Minister of Health, Jeyson Auza, on Wednesday at a press conference admitted the shortcomings in the hospital centers, but did not call the doctors to dialogue.
“We know that our health system has difficulties, we are not going to fool ourselves. We know that we have difficulties, but they must be solved with work, rather than with back-and-forth speeches that do nothing but disrespect the population,” said the minister.
