UN chief advocates better use of groundwater

The medical school asks to declare a health emergency in Ecuador

Directors of several capital hospitals joined the request, which was mainly due to problems such as the shortage of medicines, the amount of damaged equipment or problems in the infrastructure of the facilities.

At a press conference, Carlos Cárdenas, President of the Pichincha College of Physicians, stressed the need to find solutions.

“The President of the Republic speaks to everyone and not to the country’s doctors,” he said.

In this regard, Cárdenas pointed out that the union is trying to promote a space for dialogue with the national government administration in order to inform them and discuss the real situation of the sector in the 24 provinces.

“It’s time to make firm decisions and think about the health of our people,” he said. The situation prevents hundreds of surgeries and also makes it difficult to provide adequate care to patients with chronic conditions considered catastrophic, doctors said.

TV reports, for their part, show a similar scenario in the care centers of the city of Guayaquil, the second most populous city in the country after Quito.

The complaints of the specialists are confirmed by patients and their relatives who have been demonstrating and protesting for several days in recent months because of the shortage of medicines and the difficult access to tests such as tomography, endoscopy, colonoscopy, etc.

In contrast, Minister of Public Health Ximena Garzón indicated that stocks are in place and the executive is working to ensure what is necessary in this sector, including the outsourcing of pharmacies to grant private medicines indicated in consultations that public system.

Amidst this impasse, the college warned that it will hold a meeting next June to define action if its calls for quality service to citizens go unheard.

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