02/20/2020 - 16:35
- Clarín.com
- Politics
The national government relaunched this Thursday the Remediar Program , which consists of the free distribution of essential medicines in all Primary Care Centers of Argentina.
The announcement that was made official in the Official Gazette this Friday was made by the Minister of Health, Ginés González García in the Fifth Olivos official, where he was accompanied by several governors. Previously, President Alberto Fernández toured one of the units in charge of distributing the remedies, but did not participate in the press conference.
The minister considered this stage of the plan as " a central milestone" of the official public health policy, because it "distributes equity" and "improves the functioning of primary care, because if there are medications, people concur more."
In addition, he stressed that it will contribute with greater "access" for the "high price" that some of these products have in the market.
As Ginés pointed out, the program will reach just over 8,000 centers across the country, reaching some 16 million people . “The remedy is prescribed by the doctors of the center and they are delivered in the same place. It is very practical because many are far from pharmacies, ”he said.
The plan, which has “exclusive financing from the Nation,” is made up of 50 “essential medicines that cover 80% of the pathologies,” said the minister. In the first stage 14 thousand kits will be distributed, and by the end of the year it is expected to deliver between 170 and 180 thousand.
The Remediar Program began in 2002, with the management of Eduardo Duhalde, with the same minister as now in office. The first kit was delivered on October 17 of that year in Entre Rios, but between 2015 and 2019, they insist on the Government, the quantity of medicines and the frequency of distribution were reduced.
Other definitions of Ginés
When asked at the press conference, the head of the health portfolio announced that next week President Fernández will meet with representatives of the pharmaceutical industry to "delineate new policies" before the imminent expiration of the price agreement signed in the first days of the new government and for which there was an 8% decrease in some medications.
In that context, he also clarified that there has been " no increase in prepayments" , as the Government "is doing in many sectors to get out of the terrible inflation of recent years."
On the other hand, González García referred to the evacuation of Argentines who were in Wuhan, epicenter of the coronavirus in China. “They have to quarantine in Ukraine. And once finished, they already met all the requirements if they came to Argentina. But I cannot say when or how they would come because it is the work of the Foreign Ministry, ”he said.
Finally, he avoided referring to when the abortion legalization project would be officially presented. ”The times are handled by the President, but I think it will be soon,” he concluded.