Isolated populations of Paraná receive assistance through a state socio-sanitary campaign

Nail 15,000 people that inhabit islands and coastal populations of the Parana Riverin the province of Between riverswill access health and social services through the 2022 edition of the river campaign carried out this week by the Ministry of Defence together with other national and provincial public bodies, with the aim of “making the State present in locations that are very difficult to access by land.”

Just three kilometers in a straight line from the Monument to the Flag, on the banks of the Paraná River in Entre Ríos, is the 26 “Leandro Alem” school, where medical personnel from the Armed Forces set up gynecology, pediatrics, medical clinic, dentistry, ophthalmology and nursing offices, among other specialties.

In that place of the place chariguéfrom which you can see the tops of the tallest and most luxurious towers in the city of Santa Fe over the forests of the islands. rosary beadsteams from public bodies such as the National Agency on Disability (Andis)the PAMIthe National Social Security Agency (Anses)and the National Registry of Persons (Renaper) to process allowances and benefits before these national agencies.

For the inhabitants of the Entre Ríos islands, crossing the Paraná River to access some social or health benefit involves so many previous organizations that it becomes very difficult and although that educational center is about eight kilometers in a straight line from the Rosario-Victoria bridge, there are no road infrastructures either. that allow them to access that route.

This year, the Historical downpipe of the Paraná River added a degree of complexity to the campaign for access to health and social services for these residents, because the lack of depth prevented the patrol boat “King” (P-21) and the patrol boat “Río Santiago” (P-66) ) reach the location of the operation and forced all personnel and materials to be transferred in the last section aboard semi-rigid vessels.

Both the community doctor who is in charge of the local dispensary and the director of the school were fundamental agents in the prior dissemination of the operation, and during the first day they were attentive to solving and coordinating any requirement of the deployment while they received the families that were arriving in boats and canoes loaded with people, mostly women with their children.

Antonio Osuna, a 27-year-old fisherman, tied up his boat and helped disembark his wife, two of his daughters, his mother, his sister-in-law and his mother-in-law with whom he traveled from the place of ‘El espinillo’, about 30 minutes away of navigation.

“I found out about the operation from my sister and from some relatives who sent messages warning us, we came to have them check-ups and vaccinations and I came to have my teeth fixed,” Osuna told Télam.

And I add: “When there is no operation like this, if we have to do some paperwork or medical treatment we have to cross the Paraná by boat to go to Rosario and that is very complicated. because we depend on having the conditions to cross and organizing everything we had planned for that day in a different way”.

Osuna recounted that “on the island you live day to day, you have to go fishing and sometimes you can’t because of the wind or the weather, otherwise we men go out to hunt some bug to feed the family because there is nothing else; now the province gave us a bonus for the fishermen and we cling to that because we have nothing else”.

Alicia, another resident of the islands, told Télam: “My husband and son-in-law stayed at home and I came with my daughter and my three grandchildren; I found out about the operation from the teacher and we took advantage of it because if not to see a gynecologist or a dentist we have to navigate to Rosario; it is also very good that we can also do procedures such as the DNI or those of PAMI that many times we have pending for a long time for not crossing the river”

Javier Ereñú, director and teacher of the school attended by 18 boys and girls from preschool to high school, told Télam that “it is true that we are close to a very large city like Rosario, but the families that live in It is often difficult for the islands to leave, it was also important that this operation be carried out in the school, not only because of the infrastructure, but also because it is the center of social life and the community meeting point of life on the islands”.

Those in charge of the Gynecology office are the first lieutenant of the Air Force, Analía La Vía, and the first lieutenant of the Argentine Army Natalia Alvarena, both obstetricians,

During a break from his work, La Vía told Télam that “one of the objectives is to work hard in counseling on contraception Y gynecological controls” and added that “the local health team confirmed that we will be able to prescribe mammograms, ultrasounds or pap smears because they are going to make arrangements for patients to access these benefits.”

In that sense, Alvarena pointed out that “the biggest challenge is to think about how to give continuity to the treatments, a while ago we saw a patient who had been treated in this same campaign last year and had inserted an IUD (Intra Uterine Device). ) but had never been checked again”.

“From colleagues who have already participated in previous campaigns, we know that much of what we are going to work on has to do with reproductive health. We are also obstetricians and we are going to have a lot of work in pregnancy control. In that sense, the team of promoters that came with the operation to give talks and workshops for the kids from the school is very important,” La Vía said.

? The units of the #Argentina Army who participate in the #SanitaryCampaign They are found on La Invernada Island and Charigüé #Between riversproviding medical care.#LaArmadaDeLosArgentinos ?? pic.twitter.com/RjT6OHor7x

– Argentine Navy (@Armada_Arg) June 21, 2022

For her part, the Secretary for Emergency Coordination of the Ministry of Defense, Ines Barboza Belistrisummed up in dialogue with Télam that “This is a campaign that seeks to reach communities with health and social benefits that, due to their difficult-to-access location, make it almost impossible for them to have these services.; It is an effort coordinated by the Ministry of Defense, in which different organizations and agencies of the national and provincial state also participate, together with the health personnel of the Armed Forces.

This year the campaign will be for 12 days in different communities in the province of Entre Ríos, in coordination with local authorities.

He also highlighted the previous work and the “political decision” that allows carrying out a device that integrates various agencies and that is “quite cumbersome to assemble.”

“Many times the Armed Forces are the only ones that have the means and logistical tools to bring the presence of the State to the most remote points of the national territory, and that is why these types of operations are part of their tasks,” the official remarked.

The patrol ship”King“(P-21) and the Patrol Boat”Santiago River” (P-66), along with other smaller vessels of the Argentine Navy, will serve as transport and logistical support for the socio-sanitary campaign that began this Tuesday and Wednesday in “Charigüé” and will then sail to the port of Ibicuy to attend the population of “Médanos” next Saturday.

For the coming week, the operation will move to “Mazaruca” on the Lechiguanas Islands on the 27th, to “Ñancay” on the 28th, to “Ceibas” on the 29th, to “Villa Paranacito” on June 30 and July 1, and will end July 2 and 3 in “Ibicuy”.