DR ONE NEWS |
2/3/99 Storm over bad milk continues Nearly a week after over 1,000 public school students in the Cibao region became violently ill from drinking bad milk in the national school breakfast program, mysteries remain about the milk's contaminants and supplier while irate parents and civic groups are clamoring for changes in the way the Education Ministry handles the program. Yesterday the national testing laboratories at the Dominican Institute for Industrial Technology (INDOTEC) revealed the results of its tests of the milk: it found at least 22 types of bacterial contaminants. INDOTEC will not deliver its final report to the Public Health and Education Ministries until today, after it has conducted a few more tests. The Education Ministry has been criticized for the incident, and a number of parents, civil and consumer groups have called on the Ministry to identify and punish the company that supplied the bad product and to begin having the school breakfast program supplied via public tenders that emphasize qualit! y control guarantees (presently the contracts are awarded without taking bids). The Ministry has refused to identify the milk supplier. Yesterday the maker of Nutrilac, reported by many newspapers as the alleged supplier, took out ads in major dailies to deny the charge, stressing that it has never contracted with the Education Ministry. In recent days, parents and parish priests have come forward to claim that they have been complaining about the quality of the program's food for months, but in the past were threatened by local Education officials to lose the breakfast program benefits if they did not stop criticizing the program. JLG to finance one of the new public clinics Public Health Minister Dr. Altagracia Guzmán Marcelino announced yesterday that Dominican recording star Juan Luis Guerra has agreed to finance the construction of one of the Ministry's new neighborhood family health clinics. In an interview with the news daily El Siglo to discuss Ministry plans to create a series of neighborhood-based "Family Health Teams" throughout Santo Domingo, Dr. Guzmán revealed that the popular Dominican artist has agreed to finance the construction of a model clinic to be located in El Café de Herrera. [In his new album, JLG has a song decrying the state of public health care in the DR.] Each of the "Teams" will try to provide primary health care to 500-700 families through neighborhood clinics equipped with small laboratories and manned by a doctor, a nurse, a social worker and a health educator. The clinics will offer vaccinations, pediatric attention, dental care and general check-ups. The concept is to take primary care to families turned off by c! rowded and poorly-equipped clinics at public hospitals, and in the process create a sort of "early warning system" to detect emerging health problems in the barrios. Clinics are already planned for the barrios of Domingo Savio, El Capotillo, Gualey, La Zurza, Maria Auxiliadora, Simón Bolívar and 24 de Abril. Five new free zones approved The National Council of Free Trade Zones has approved the creation of five new FTZs (known in the DR as "zonas francas"), representing an initial investment of RD$55 million and expected to generate more than US$4 million in revenues. The approval was announced by Industry and Commerce Minister Luis Manuel Bonetti after a meeting of the Council in Santiago. Two of the new parks will be created in San Pedro de Macorís, and one a piece for Los Alcarrizos, La Romana and Salcedo. In 1998 alone, seven new FTZs were authorized by the Council and 58 new firms approved to operate within the parks. SESPAS to vaccine 500,000 against measles The Public Health Ministry (SESPAS) is launching a nationwide measles vaccination aimed at immunizing 500,000 children ages 5-14, considered susceptible to the disease because they were not covered by the last major measles immunization campaign. The action is being taken after measles cases have been reported in Higüey, La Romana, Samaná and Santo Domingo. So far 137 suspected cases have been reported, 23 of which have been confirmed in laboratory tests. Health authorities suspect that the people have been exposed to foreign tourists carrying the disease, as happened recently in Brazil. 8. Doctors' strike in Santo Domingo tomorrow The Dominican Medical Association (AMD) has called a 24-hour strike in all public hospitals in the DN beginning 8 am and ending at the same hour on Saturday morning. During that period doctors will only attend emergencies at those hospitals. Private clinics are not affected. The work stoppage may be just the first step in the AMD's "battle plan" to get a large pay hike. The AMD wants the government to grant an over the board increase, the government wants the increases to be on a merit base as several government medics hold their primary jobs in the private sector. Earlier this week AMD announced that it no longer wants to negotiate the raise with Public Health Minister, Altagracia Guzmán Marcelino, whom it says it no longer trusts to negotiate in good faith. It is demanding direct talks with President Fernández. The AMD's National Assembly has authorized the Executive Committee to invoke a full-fledged strike, lead marches on the National Palace and occupy airports, public of! fices and tourism spots. Dr. Guzmán Marcelino has urged AMD to drop such tactics and to return to the bargaining table, arguing that work stoppages only hurt the health of the poor. Most poor Dominicans go to public hospitals, where technically speaking health care is free (although patients often must pay for supplies). Those on company health plans or better-off go to private clinics. In a related development, the Dominican Association of Graduated Nurses (ADEG), the group representing nurses with formal degrees, announced that it too is formulating a battle plan that might include a nurses' strike. ADEG says that the government is not keeping its promise to raise their very low salaries 101%. ADEG says that the government has actually only given nurses a 25% raise, despite government claims to the contrary. 3/17/99 Bottlers agree to stop selling water in bags The Public Health Ministry (SESPAS) has reached an agreement with the water bottling industry here to stop the sale of drinking water in plastic bags, but not before closing seven bottlers and ordering several others to suspend operations until they can meet minimum safety and quality standards. The agreement also calls for toughening the quality and safety standards and for the industry to conduct a public education campaign about safe drinking water practices. The pact is to be formally announced today by Public Health Minister Dr. Altagracia Guzmán Marcelino. Recent tests of bottled drinking water commissioned by SESPAS' Environmental Health Directorate identified a quality control problem in water sold in plastic bags. The bags are individual portions that are sold in many neighborhood minimarts ("colmados") and by street vendors. 3/17/99 High-tech tele-medicine center opened President Fernández officially inaugurated yesterday a new high-tech Center for Diagnosis, Advanced Medicine, Medical Conferences and Tele-medicine (CEDIMET) at the Plaza de la Salud in Santo Domingo. Under a pact between the CEDIMET and Boston's Massachusetts General Hospital, Dominican doctors will be able to routinely consult American specialists on cases through a teleconferencing line that will remain constantly open. CEDIMET will offer its services to all specialties and will be available for cases involving any Dominican, regardless of economic status. Doctors utilizing the CEDIMET services will be able to share x-ray, sonogram, laproscopic and other information and images with American colleagues in real-time. June 1999 Consumers and industries big losers of protectionist measure Retailers are complaining that the government's decision to protect the protection of the Central Romana and Casa Vicini private sugar producers converts consumers and local industries that use sugar as big losers. The government increased import taxes to 94% on sugar, and granted a practical monopoly on imports to the two sugar producers. The retailers say the measure could increase the price of sugar locally to RD$10 the pound, making it the most expensive in the world. Recently the government increased the tax on sugar from 20% to 94% and authorized sugar producers to import 110,000 metric tons of sugar for sale to retailers. Chamber of Deputies passes bill that would increase departure tax to US$20 The Chamber of Deputies approved the bill that would fund a salary increase for physicians of 60%. Part of the moneys would come from a doubling of the departure tax from US$10 to US$20. The bill had the support of PLD deputies. Deputy Rafael Taveras opposed the bill on grounds that it contradicts a recent ruling of the Supreme Court of Justice that says that the US$10 present departure tax charge violates the Constitution. The Dominican Hotel Association has rejected the increase of the departure tax. JCE: 1,000's of "irregular" cedulas issued in 1993-94 Yesterday JCE President Ramón Morel Cerda told reporters that the Board has found evidence that in 1993 and 1994 the then-CDE issued "thousands" of "irregular" voter identity cards ("cedulas") to Haitians, dead people and military men (members of the military are not allowed to vote while in service). The cedulas were obtained using false birth certificates issued by civil offices at the time, and were probably obtained in order to commit voting fraud in the 1994 elections. Morel Cerda said, however, the cards have been detected and are being seized when they are presented to the JCE to obtain the new cedula needed in order to vote in the year 2000 presidential elections. Dominican children of Haitians denied cedulas A group of 14 nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) has filed a formal petition with the JCE asking it to take action to stop discrimination against children born in the DR whose father or mother is Haitian. The groups allege that JCE offices are refusing to give these children cedulas, even when presented with an official Dominican birth certificate. Sometimes, Solange Pierre of the Dominican-Haitian Women's Movement (MUDHA) told reporters, this has occurred even when the mother is second or third-generation Dominican. Pierre alleged that the situation is due to a purposeful policy adopted by the JCE. Without the cedula, the children cannot attend public schools or receive public health services, among other citizen's rights. The NGOs say some 60-70% of these children are not attending school now for this reason. One famous case cited was 16-year Claubian Yan Yaque, who shortly after being nationally recognized as one of the DR's best students was forced to leave school becaus! e he cannot get his cedula. The situation recently has gotten worse, say the NGOs, because Dominican hospitals have started denying a hospital birth certificate for children born in the DR of a Haitian parent. Without the hospital certificate, an official state certificate cannot be obtained, and without that, no cedula. The NGOs say that the JCE actions, as well as that of other state institutions, violates Article 11 of the Dominican Constitution (all those born in the DR have a right to Dominican citizenship), Law 659 on the issuance of birth certificates, and Article 1 of the UN's Universal Declaration of Human Rights. |
June 1999 Country's largest public hospital to be inaugurated The Listín Diario reported that the Hospital Regional del Este, the largest public hospital built in the DR, is ready to be inaugurated. Located in San Pedro de Macorís, the hospital was built to serve the eastern provinces of San Pedro de Macorís, Hato Mayor, El Seibo, La Romana and La Altagracia. It has 250 beds, most located in the obstetrics and pediatric wards. Construction on the hospital began in 1977. The construction cost RD$218.5 million and RD$92 million was used in the equipping. Built on an area of 17,862 square meters, seven blocks of buildings of three levels intercommunicated among themselves. Designed by Calventi and Asociados Agreement reached with nurses The Minister of Health Altagracia Guzmn Marcelino, the Dominican Association of Graduate Nurses (ADEG) and the Union of Nursing Professionals (SINATRAE) signed an agreement whereby the parties will present to the National Congress a bill that would set aside funds to increase salaries by 40%. The agreement was rejected by the National Union of Nursing Services (UNASED) and the National Union of Nursing Services (UNASE) that have been on strike for two months in public hospitals. . Crisis at the Padre Billini Public Hospital Some 100 chronically ill indigent Dominicans, who receive free kidney dialysis services at the Padre Billini public hospital, may die if the hospital does not soon resolve its water supply problems. The hospital is closed to the general public, and only offers services in the dialysis ward. Its remodeling has taken over two years. Country's largest public hospital to be inaugurated The Listín Diario reported that the Hospital Regional del Este, the largest public hospital built in the DR, is ready to be inaugurated. Located in San Pedro de Macorís, the hospital was built to serve the eastern provinces of San Pedro de Macorís, Hato Mayor, El Seibo, La Romana and La Altagracia. It has 250 beds, most located in the obstetrics and pediatric wards. Construction on the hospital began in 1977. The construction cost RD$218.5 million and RD$92 million was used in the equipping. Built on an area of 17,862 square meters, seven blocks of buildings of three levels intercommunicated among themselves. Designed by Calventi and Asociados |
News Continued Summer 1999 |
Haitian - Dominican News |
