Health reform in the Dominican Republic: women take action. (News and Meetings).

In commemoration of this year's International Day of Action for Women's Health, the Dominican Republic's Colectiva Mujer y Salud (Women and Health Collective) organized a forum on "Health Sector Reform and Women's Human Rights" in collaboration with INSALUD and Family Care International. This event stressed that the changes currently being undertaken in health policy as part of the reform process will have a serious impact on Dominican women's access to health care and its quality. For this reason, the organizations emphasized the importance of participation by women's organizations, NGOs, community groups, health workers' unions and professional associations, and other interested groups in the approval and implementation of the Basic Health Care Plan. The participants proposed to:

1. Raise awareness among the women's organizations, networks, groups and associations regarding the key elements of the law on social security and health from a rights-based perspective; and

2. Define strategies for social and political mobilization to lobby for adequate regulations to cover the operations of the Basic Health Care Plan stipulated in this law.

From Paper to Practice

In 2000, the General Law on Health (42-01) created a new legal framework for the Health Care System, and Law 87-01 created the Dominican Health and Social Security Regimen. The latter guarantees the "gradual and progressive" provision of "a comprehensive Basic Health Care Plan for the entire population of the Dominican Republic, regardless of their social, economic or employment status..." This basic plan includes preventive and diagnostic services as well as health promotion, health care treatment and rehabilitation services detailed in the "criteria and list of services determined by the National Social Security Council" (Article 129 of Law 87-01).

This same Council is charged with approving "a detailed catalogue of the services covered by the Basic Health Care Plan." The Council will include government representatives, health service users and health care workers. Activists should intervene in the process of constructing the Basic Health Care Plan to guarantee the inclusion of a package of comprehensive sexual and reproductive services which are needed to improve rates of maternal and infant mortality, unwanted pregnancy, teenage pregnancy, STI/HIV/AIDS prevalence, domestic violence and cervical cancer. These interventions should generate favorable public opinion and sensitize decision-makers, and as a result, the Dominican state should assume its responsibilities in the face of these and other situations that affect women and guarantee the protection of their rights to sexual and reproductive health.

Once a definition of the Basic Health Care Plan has been agreed upon, civil society must monitor its implementation. In this effort, the Red Dominicana par la Salud de las Mujeres (Dominican Network for Women's Health), unions, professional associations, NGOs working in health and others must become involved permanently in defining the Basic Health Care Plan to make sure that interventions to promote women's right to health and their well-being are included.

* For more information, contact: Sergia Galvan, e-mail: [e-mail]