Improvements to primary health care on the horizon -PM Skerrit

There continues to be efforts made by the current administration to improve the island’s health services.

Discussions are now being held within the Ministry of Health about the financing of health care by nationals.

With huge sums of finances being spent on travel to other countries in the region for medical care, Prime Minister Skerrit says government is seeking to develop a plan of action to expand medical services in Dominica.

“My thinking is that we need to create a special opportunity where we can be advised first of all of what the services are that our people go out of Dominica to [seek] and what would be required to provide these services in Dominica.  What are the human resources we need… the technical resources we need to ensure our people can get these services? I see too many of our people suffer because they do not have the monies to go out there and get medical care. Our objective and our goal should be to provide those services at a minimal charge to our people and I believe it can be achieved.  One of the ways we can finance it, partly is by a proposal which I have put before the public where every working person in this country can contribute 2% of his/her salary…” He added, “Every one of us one day will find ourselves on a hospital bed, and the question is how do we finance our road to recovery?”

While some people who are covered by health insurance may object to a general healthcare program, the fact remains, there are many people who cannot afford health insurance.  The Prime Minister says, in some cases health insurance can be prohibitive to many families.

“The number of people who come to me for two hundred thousand dollars, fifty thousand US Dollars, sixty thousand Euros and I’m looking at the people and I’m saying where on earth would they find sixty thousand Euros? Should we say to them that they should go home and die and so forth?  I believe we owe it to ourselves and our people… This is not about politics, it’s about caring for people… Government is always willing to help in cases of need, however in recent times, the demands for medical assistance are not sustainable.  Cabinet has set itself a task for finding a mechanism for financing health care for all that is fair and equitable.”