The Health Committee of the American Chamber of Commerce of the Dominican Republic (Amchamdr), held the discussion “Challenges and opportunities for the implementation of primary care”with the presentation as the main speaker of Arismendi Díaz, president of the Social Security for All Foundation (Fsspt).
In it meetingDíaz spoke about the situation of the primary care in the country, pointing out the risks and opportunities for improvement in this discussion, ensuring that “Primary care must begin for the benefit of patients, doctors, the sector and other social security actors linked to the issue.”
“The rulers They must see that there is a national bloc that demands something earring of the law, medical, popular, social and union organizations must be involved in the implementation (…) this benefits the companies directly and indirectly, because it solves health problems for the family of employees, increases productivity”, he indicated Díaz, by framing part of the advantages that could represent for the country the application of an efficient and innovative Primary Care System.
The panel entitled “Challenges and opportunities for the implementation of primary care”, included the participation of Magdalena Rathepresident and founder of the Plenitude Foundation, Dr. Edward Read, president of the Dominican Association of Primary Care Centers and Edward Guzmán, general manager of the National Social Security Council (CNSS). Acting as moderator of this exchange of ideas was Dr. Alejandro Cambiasoleader of the Access and Coverage Commission of the AMCHAMDR Health Committee.
In the discussion, the panelists They discussed the importance of creating a Primary Care system in the country, which is inclusive and focused not only on the sick or the elderly, but on all Dominicans, thus achieving progress in preventive medicine, which allows the identification of time risk factors or diseases that are usually not very noticeable until symptoms and effects begin, such as diabetes and hypertension.
Reid, president of the Dominican Association of Primary Care Centers, assured during his presentation on the panel, that in order to achieve the goal of establishing a fair system, “the patient and the Dominican must be placed as a priority.”
“It major, why primary care has not started in the country is because the patient as the central axis. There are economic discussions of insurance, networks, a thousand things, but unfortunately, the importance of patient health and prevention as the central axis has not been the leading voice in this matter. There must be political will After saying this, it will start and hold work tables to reach an agreement, ”he said.
during his stake In the debate, Magdalena Rathe, president and founder of the Plenitud Foundation, who has worked on the performance of health systems for years, explained that the important thing when developing a strategy as this is that the provisions are met to achieve the desired results.
In these works on performancewe have seen something fundamental, and that is that the countries in Latin America and the caribbean Those who have the best performance in their health system are precisely those who have a strong Primary Care system in Operation”, said Rathe.
By ensuring that primary care does not refer to a care center, but to a strategy in which all the actors must get involved and walk in the same direction, Edward Guzmangeneral manager of the National Social Security Council (CNSS), said that the discussions around the establishment and improvement of primary care in the country have stopped due to the lack of consensus.
“For the inclusion of primary care, it is necessary consensus, that we can meet, continue talking and proposing ideas. As a country we must generate a consensus. Financing from the State and Social Security is also important, which cannot be left aside,” said the official.
To end this Amachamdr Talks, Dr. Alejandro Cambiaso, leader of the Access and Coverage Commission of the House Health Committee, reiterated that in order to achieve an efficient primary care system in the Dominican Republic, it is necessary to bring the discussion to a level in where all the actors involved, public and private, can discuss and work together.
About the American Chamber of Commerce of the Dominican Republic (Amachamdr)
The American Chamber of Commerce of the Dominican Republic (Amachamdr) is a non-profit association, incorporated legally on November 8, 1923, which fosters a healthy investment climate based on access to knowledge, opportunities, and a culture of best practices for the socioeconomic and professional development of its partners. Amachamdr is affiliated with the US Chamber of Commerce and is a founding member of the Association of American Chambers of Commerce in Latin America (Aaccla).