the minister of Public health, Daniel Riveraaffirmed this Monday that, although the indicators of Covid-19 are low in the country, we must not forget that the nation is still in the midst of a pandemic.
The doctor highlighted that the positivity accumulated in the last four weeks is 1.17%, “the lowest since the start of the pandemic two years ago”.
He also spoke about the low hospital occupancy, where there are currently only 139 internal patients for Covid in the entire national geography.
“We are with the best indicators of the Covid, it does not mean that we have to be confident”Minister of Public Health
According to bulletin 732, 16 new cases of Covid-19for a total of 338 active cases.
Vaccination
According to Minister Rivera, daily they are inoculating 12 and 13 thousand peopleOf these, between 800 and 1,000 are first dose.
On vaccination in children from 5 to 11 years old, the minister assured that 124,247 infants have been inoculated against the coronavirus.
He recalled that there are 300 centers of vaccination in schools throughout the country, which operate from Monday to Friday with the informed consent signed by the parents, applying two doses of Sinovaca vaccine that has shown “good tolerance, used in 18 countries and all the studies speak of a good response for children”.
The official confessed that “currently we have six million Sinovac, with that there is no problem of expiration, it is an attenuated virus and it is for next year that it would have that consequence, but we have 3.6 (million) of Pfizer. The Pfizer it is the one with a short maturity cycle of six months”.
As he testified, “the total number of vaccines purchased was sufficient and continues to be sufficient for Dominicans to receive their first, second and third doses, the booster dose and the children.”
Regarding the maturity margin, he said that although the next 30 will expire a batch of 300 thousand doses of Pfizerit never exceeds 1% of the total purchase.
“We will see next week how many can be beaten, but it will never be more than 1% of those purchased. The United States is due 10% and we have a margin of 1%”, emphasized.
The official commented that 26 million vaccines were contracted, of which 10 million were AstraZeneca. This contract is currently under review because there was non-compliance on the part of the pharmaceutical company, by not sending the vaccines on time, which motivated the Government to initiate negotiations with Sinovac.
“The disease is going to remain endemic, it is a live virus, which must be respected and monitored all the time”, stressed the minister.
Other diseases that affect DR
Rivera listed the four health conditions that are causing the most deaths in the country.
First of all there are the cardiovascular events with 30.5% and main responsible for deaths in people with a range between 45 and 55 years.
they follow himto diabetes and overweight; traffic accidents third and fourth place, the Cancer.
Regarding this last disease, he said that there are young people of 40 years with Cancer of prostate, lung, breast and ovaries, diseases that previously affected a more adult public.
Currently, the High-Cost Medication Program coordinates assistance to 14,500 patients and invests 4 billion pesos in medicines. He admitted that there is a shortage of at least five drugs, attributed to poor coordination with international suppliers.
“Each patient is important to us and needs an investment. Out-of-pocket spending must be reduced, it is about 45% in these diseases, “said the minister.
Rivera also mentioned maternal mortality, since 58% of deaths are in mothers between 10 and 29 years old.
PEPI strategy and ten-year plan
Rivera explained what the PEPI strategic plan of the ministry he heads consists of. It is an initiative of Promotion, Education, Prevention and Intervention, hence the acronym.
Thanks to this strategy, the Health Route in the cities with more alarming indicators.
An example of this is Hato Mayor, since 81% of its population is overweight; Montecristi, where 50% suffer from hypertension; Azua with diabetes to 37% when the national average is only 12%; Moca, which ranks second in hypertension with 46.7% of its population, and San Pedro de Macorís, where the next walk will take place on April 8 and 9, since 79% of its inhabitants suffer from obesity and overweight.
The Ministry of Health is carrying out a study on childhood obesity in order to recommend improvements in school breakfast; another on sleep apnea, practiced on drivers with a category 3 and 4 license and a day of urine tests to detect infections and possible ailments.
Agreements are also being made to carry out liver transplants for children at the Cardio-Neuro-Ophthalmological and Transplant Center (Cecanot) and manage a single private and public file per patient, in order to always have each person’s clinical history at hand. This is being done together with the National Health Service (SNS).
Regarding the ten-year plan, he said that it is necessary to better distribute hospital beds and not concentrate them only in Santo Domingo. It is also necessary to hire balanced human resources and seek incentives in other provinces so that medical residency students can have training.
“We cannot allow hospitals to be built again in the capital. We must distribute hospital beds throughout the country”, concluded the minister.
Rivera spoke when being interviewed on the radio program “El Gobierno de la Mañana”.
