Private pharmacies won’t fill IESS ‘scripts so gov’t turns to international market; Award-winning Cuenca writer Eliécer Cárdenas dies; New tourism initiative

Lunes, 27/9/2021

Hola, Todos –

Actividades –
Nada.

Titular –

Eliécer Cárdenas, el cronista insuperable (Eliécer Cárdenas, the insurmountable chronicler) – Eliécer Cárdenas, a well known writer who was born in Cañar and later adopted Cuenca as his home, died ayer at age 70. In 1987 he won the Aurelio Espinosa Pólit Prize with the play ‘Morir en Vilcabamba’. In 1978, his novel ‘Polvo y Ceniza’ won the National House of Ecuadorian Culture Award. In addition his literary work, Cárdenas was a columnist for the newspapers El Comercio and El Mercurio.

Cuenca –

Cuenca’s most celebrated author Eliécer Cárdenas died Sunday at age 70.

Farmacias de hospitales en la mira (Hospital pharmacies in the sights) – Last julio, VP Alfredo Borrero, said that the pharmacies would be removed from the public institutions. Patients could take their recetas (prescriptions – your word for the day, and I bet there are a lot of you whose recetas could fill a book.) to any pharmacy in the system to be filled. He made that decision because the hospital pharmacies were converted into a center of corruption. The hospital “Vicente Corral Moscoso” is still providing normal pharmacy services (online prescription) since the change has not yet been made. Jorge Saquicela, the attorney for the Unión Nacional de Propietarios de Farmacias del Ecuador, said that government is looking for more effectiveness in the public hospital pharmacies, especially in the hospitals managed by IESS on the coast where much corruption exists. He was skeptical about this project since it was tried 6 years ago, but no pharmacies signed onto the program since the government was considered a bad payer. Also, IESS had the same experience 15 years ago when no one was interested.

Desabastecimiento (Shortage) – The situation in the public hospital pharmacies has worsened recently due to a shortage of medicines. The Ministerio de Salud Pública (MSP) declared a focused emergency and made a call to local businesses, but was unable to get the medicines locally due to a lack of response. It then resorted to the international market. The MSP has made 4 calls since 13/7 and received 181 proformas for the 123 priority items. Of those, it has awarded contracts for 42 medications.

Region –

Turismo hermana a 10 municipios de 3 regiones el país (Tourism sisterhood of 10 municipalities in 3 regions of the country) – 10 communities formed the “Tinkuñan” mancomunidad (commonwealth) to reactivate their economies through tourism. Tinkuñan means the joining or meeting of roads in kichwa. The communities involved are the cantons of Nabón, Girón, San Fernando, Santa Isabel, Pukará, and Oña in Azuay; Saragura in Loja; Pasaje y El Guabo in El Oro: y Yacuambi in Zamora Chinchipe. Nabón, for example, is proposing community tourism with its natural attractions such as the Curiquingue lake as well as community beliefs, customs, and work in areas such as tequila, high altitude coffee, and cereals. Pasaje in El Oro sees potential in its natural attractions such as the caverns of Chillahyacu in the Uzhcurrimi parish and the waterfalls on the río Tobar in Casacay; and in its productive routes for cacao and chocolate. Yacuambi in Zamora Chinchipe is featuring the traditions of the Amazonian villages and the río Yacuambi for adventure sports.

And that’s all for today so hasta ? –

Jeanne