Taxi drivers complain about robberies; City council hikes bus fare subsidy by 4 cents; Chronic illness care resumes; Cyber attack slows license renewals

Martes, 16/11/2021

Hola, Todos –

Actividades –

Titular –

Ejército ingresa a cárceles (Army enters prisons) – See Tuesday’s article in CHL for story.

Cuenca –

Presentan proyecto de Ley para Diabetes (Project for a Law for Diabetes presented) – The draft of the Ley de Prevención y Atención Integral de las personas que padecen Diabetes (Law for the Prevention and Comprehensive Care of Persons with Diabetes) was presented at the meeting of the Comisión de Salud y Deporte of the Asamblea Nacional last Friday. The Fundación Los Fresnos Casa de la Diabetes and the Alianza Nacional por la Salud have been working been working on the draft of the law for about 2 months with citizen input. They have put emphasis on comprehensive treatment of patients by a multidiscipline team in different health centers in the country. The law speaks to the necessity of education about diabetes and discrimination in academic and work sectors. They hope to start on the final document and get it approved in the first half of next year.

Cuenca’s Vicente Corral Moscoso hospital is resuming its program to care for patients with chronic illnesses.

Alumnos de bachillerato los primeros en retornar a las clases presenciales (First years high school students to return to face-to-face classes) – Students will be returning to clases presenciales in 3 phases with the first phase starting on 22/11, the 2nd on 6/12, and the last on 17/1/2022 when 100% will be back in face-to-face classes.

Clínica Integral Metabólica se reactiva de forma paulatina (Clínica Integral Metabólica is gradually being reactivated) – The Vicente Corral Moscoso hospital is gradually reactivating it’s Integrated Metabolic Clinic to treat and improve the lives of patients with chronic illnesses such as diabetes mellitus and morbid obesity. The clinic started in septiembre of 2019 but had to stop due to the pandemic. Patients then had to receive their treatments from different specialists on different days. Now patients classified as priorities can receive treatment from nutrition, endocronology, and laboratories on the same day and continue with other services such as vascular surgery and ophthamology.

Colectivo “Lista de Espera” realiza varias observaciones (The “Waiting List” Collective makes a number of observations) – On el 29/10, the ministra de Salud, Ximena Garzón, and the director of the Instituto Nacional de Donación y Trasplantes de Órganos, Tejidos y Células (INDOT – National Institute for Organ, Tissue and Cell Donation and Transplantation), Patricio Ortiz, met with the Lista de Espera collective which emphasized the need to strengthen the identification of possible donors. At the meeting, the health officials promised the immediate purchase of medicines to maintain possible donors, initiate a communication campaign, and strengthen coordination to identify possible donors. The last point and the promise of health professionals to refer possible donors is one of the biggest challenges to guarantee the lives of patients with catastrophic illnesses. According to INDOT data, there are 1,707 people on the waiting list for a transplant.

Siquen problemas con las licencias (License problems continue) – In spite of resuming services to issue and renew licenses el 8/11, problems getting an appointment at the Agencia Nacional de Tránsito (ANT) are continuing. Their web page, www.ant.gob.ec, suffered a cyber attack el 21/10 which disabled the information system leaving all processing suspended. Currently, due to the pandemic, drivers can drive with an expired license until 12/31/2021, but need to show the original payment, a printed appointment from the ANT web page, and the expired license or report in case of a stolen or lost license in order to do so. Drivers are complaining that the web site is not giving appointments. <Best example of Catch 22 that I’ve ever seen.> ANT is considering going back to processing the paperwork by hand along with the medical exams. Also, giving drivers a new appointment so they can finish the process is part of the contingency plan to reschedule appointments. <Sounds like they’re a long way from getting drivers who need them their updated licenses.> ANT is also looking at changing their AXIS system to one which has been tried in other countries and which offers better security.

Definen subidio a buses (Bus subsidy defined) – The Concejo Cantonal de Cuenca (Concejo Cantonal de Cuenca) met lunes and voted to increase the bus fare subsidy to four cents from the current one cent. The increase means bus companies will collect 35 cents per ride although passengers will continue to pay 30 cents. The concejo also agreed to continue the two cents subsidy for seniors, students and the disabled, who pay half fare.

After approval of an ordinance in julio, 2018, and complete replacement of the bus fleet by he Cámara de Transporte de Cuenca (CTC), the fare was supposed to rise to 34 cents. The contribution from the city should have been $600,000 for six months if the fare was set at $.32, $1,200,000 if the fare was at $.34, and $1,500,000 if it was at $.35, but the rate was never finalized.

Sucesos –

12 taxistas asaltados en una semana (12 cab drivers assaulted in one week) – A delegation from the taxi drivers union went to the Gobernación del Azuay to ask authorities for actions to help strengthen security for taxistas since they have been victims of successive robberies. They also staged a caravan around the Azuay government buildings. Drivers said that in just the last week, there were 12 assaults with some drivers injured. The drivers affected said that the delinquents were well armed and posed as passengers before committing their crimes while on route. The police said there were only 2 reports.

And that’s all for today so Hasta ? –

Jeanne