Solutions to high cost of medicines lost in fog of talks

If there is something to be recognized by the Government, it is its willingness to convene dialogues. The bad thing is that they are almost always pointless, useless, and, consequently, a waste of time for those who believe that goals can be achieved in this way. Let’s look at the case of the cost of medicines. There are three commissions talking about it: one from the Executive; another from the Legislature and the third –arising, precisely, due to the lack of results– from the groups that organized the protests last July, and who obtained a patch at the single dialogue table for Panama –the reduction in the price of 170 medicines– instead of a comprehensive solution. Talking, discussing, analyzing, and even agreeing on solutions, does not seem to be the problem. Instead, the will to get to the bottom of the matter; restructure the system and, once the objectives have been achieved, apply what was agreed upon, that’s another history. The truth is that there is no such will because there are elementary factors that prevent it. For example, there is a lot of incompetence in the Government; the proposed solutions are not consolidated; leadership is scarce and the credibility of politicians is on the floor. With this panorama, a long-term solution is unlikely… although there is still hope. – LA PRENSA, Sep. 6.