Medicines, a great business – La Hora

There will be very few areas of public administration that have been free from the taint of corruption that has been prevalent for a long time and hence the battle will be extremely complex given the enormous interests that will now come to the fore once people are no longer bored. To create a clear mandate against so much rot that must clearly be implemented. However, it is necessary to point out that one of the areas in which this practice was first institutionalized was health, which included the mandatory and absolutely necessary purchase of medicines, which created collusion between the authorities and drug sellers, leading not only The parties suffered losses worth lakhs. , but a very serious loss for the entire population.

One of the effects that should be clearly seen is that the price of medicine, even for individuals, in Guatemala is much higher than the price of any medicine in other countries. And to justify pocketing the millions, the price for the public was also increased, becoming too much of a burden for families who do not depend on social security or public health in the country.

Yesterday Health Ministry officials announced that they are preparing to sign an agreement with the United Nations Office for Project Services (UNOPS) to avoid anomalies encountered in direct and low-value procurement. We must remember that this mechanism was already used in the Guatemalan Social Security Institute (IGSS), with satisfactory results, but it was buried when the government of Giammattei and Martínez appointed the chief executives of the IGSS , who immediately rushed to cancel the use. of a system that, without being perfect, at least made it possible to minimize dirty deals and meet the needs of the workers involved.

Theft in any field is not only a crime but also a serious act morally; But when they take advantage of people’s health needs to amass huge wealth and play in the field of corruption, the situation becomes much more serious, especially in situations when the lives of patients are at risk. Now we are seeing the drama of kidney patients, an area in which there are already some deaths, and all this is the result of the way in which business is privileged even in the cases of patients at serious risk.

We have said that the challenge of changing dirty practices is huge because they extend into all areas of the public service, but there is no doubt that the issue of drugs, both purchased by the state and purchased at a premium by individuals, is something that It is such that it demands immediate attention.

The regulatory issue with health records is another focus that needs to be addressed urgently and authorities need to be able to concentrate their efforts almost immediately to combat these evils.