OPINION: Children’s health not  a  business

Our public contracting system is costing us lives and health. Since 2013, an attempt has been made to tender a new Children’s Hospital, but these efforts have failed for many reasons, especially due to the constant challenges by the construction companies. This has caused unforgivable overcrowding in the main child care medical center throughout the country. The beds in the six main rooms have a 100% occupancy, and the incubators have had to be placed at a closer distance than recommended, due to lack of space. This hospital has essentially the same physical structure since 1979. In those 40 years, the Panamanian population more than doubled. In addition, important advances in medical technology cannot be incorporated into current facilities due to lack of space. As with the bids for medicines and surgical supplies from the Social Security Fund, the stagnation of the construction of the new Children’s Hospital needs to be resolved urgently. The incoming government must change the rules of these tenders so that our bad health is not a good business. – LA PRENSA, May 26