Yolanda Mamani Cayo / La Paz
The country’s health workers will carry out a 72-hour strike from tomorrow, April 20 to Friday, April 22, demanding the dismissal of the general manager of the National Health Fund (CNS), Herland Tejerina.
Meanwhile, the Minister of Health, Jeyson Auza, urged the sector to attend the dialogue with Tejerina and asked not to stop work, otherwise he will proceed to discount the days not worked.
The Federation of Medical Unions and Related Branches of Social Security of the National Health Fund (Fesimras) established through an instruction to the country’s unions to abide by the “mobilized 72-hour national strike from midnight on Wednesday 20, Thursday 21 and Friday 22, with emergency care”.
Health workers affiliated with social security have been demanding Tejerina’s change since the beginning of April because, according to those mobilized, she has “poor administrative and financial management that threatens the sustainability of the CNS.”
On April 13, Tejerina summoned the leadership of the sector to dialogue to meet their demands and said that his dismissal is not his responsibility.
“President Luis Arce has entrusted me with a mission and we are going to be firm, together with this team, fulfilling the work and task that he has entrusted to us until he decides on something else,” Tejerina responded.
Along these lines, yesterday Minister Auza asked health workers to attend the call for dialogue with Tejerina and in the event that the sector paralyzes care in health centers, discounts will apply.
“If services are being suspended that are aimed at providing that necessary care to our population, we must proceed with the corresponding discounts,” said the head of Health.
Medical College
On the other hand, the Bolivian Medical Association will meet this Tuesday at the National Medical Council to analyze the documentation that the government sent yesterday in relation to the request to eliminate the declaration of National Health Emergency Covid-19.
It will also be analyzed whether to return to dialogue, the vice president of the sector, Freddy Fernández, informed Página Siete.
“We will meet tomorrow (Tuesday) as an emergency due to the documentation that Minister Auza has offered to send us,” Fernádez said.
He stressed that Auza offered to send the call to reopen the dialogue, “but if he now changes his mind and requires us to send a note, we will surely do it,” he insisted. However, he noted Auza’s “play on words” that he had initially pledged to call for dialogue this week.
