Doctors ask the new government to prioritize Primary Health Care in Dominican Republic

Two young doctors who work at different Primary Health Care levels called on the new Government to prioritize this health strategy and implement it in the country, as it is a national need.

They are doctors Joel Juan Pablo Germán Ortiz, who works in a Primary Care center in San Francisco de Macorís, and Angel Enrique García, second-year resident of Family Medicine at the Francisco Moscoso Puello Hospital, in Santo Domingo.

“As a young doctor of the first level of care, I have the hope and the certainty that the Government and its health authorities prioritize the first level of care and Primary Care,” said Germán Ortiz.

In his opinion, from the covid-19 isolation center, and in the rural community in which he works, he has seen the needs that exist for prevention, education, protection, as this implies early detection of diseases,” insisted the Franco-Corisano doctor.

Primary Care is the strength, and the first level is the gateway to the system, said the young doctor, who was one of the first in Jaya to treat covid-19 patients in the Aguayo project isolation center. He thinks that if the new government implements Primary Care, the Dominican health system will become resistant to avoid diseases and face any pandemic epidemic.

“On many occasions, first-level health personnel, doctors, nurses, bioanalysts and promoters, find ourselves with our hands tied in our daily lives due to the deficiency of not having the necessary medical supplies. There always seems to be a lack of sufficient supplies of medicines, equipment, and instruments,” Germán said.

García said that it is essential and vitally important that the new authorities invest the necessary and sufficient primary health care resources. “Primary Care is the core of the health system of any country,” he said.