Indolent, Inefficient, Blackmailing Health Service; We Must Separate Wheat From Chaff

Public health in Bolivia, and especially in Santa Cruz, has transformed from a vital service into a political bargaining chip, according to an opinion piece in El Deber. The author contends that the system suffers from moral decay, becoming prebendal, politicized, and indifferent to the suffering of patients. This precariousness is not merely about a lack of supplies or beds, but a deeper ethical failing within the sector.

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The precariousness in health care is not just a lack of supplies or beds, it is the moral precariousness of a sector that has become prebendal, politicized, and indolent with the patient.

The article highlights how strikes, blockades, and work stoppages are frequently initiated under the banner of "labor demands." The predictable outcome, the author states, is that impoverished and sick citizens are caught in the middle, serving as leverage for union demands. Patients, including children, the elderly, and those with disabilities, are allegedly used as "cannon fodder" to pressure the municipality into paying for privileges secured through the suffering of the vulnerable.

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Patients are used as cannon fodder to blackmail the municipality with the pain of others and obtain the payment of privileges obtained by force of the pain of sick children, the elderly, people with disabilities and families who arrive at public hospitals in Santa Cruz with no other option.

This situation is particularly painful, the piece argues, because the same health workers who are meant to care for the sick are also those who humiliate them through these actions. The author directly addresses these public health officials, asserting that the Santa Cruz municipality owes them nothing. Instead, the debt is traced back to central administrations, supported and promoted by these same union leaders for twenty years under "masismo" governments. These officials, the article claims, benefited from that model and are now unfairly burdening the municipality and patients.

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It is convenient to say something with absolute clarity, to this group of public health system officials: the municipality of Santa Cruz owes you nothing. Not a single cent.

The piece criticizes the officials for benefiting from the "squandering" of millions of dollars that should have funded infrastructure and equipment, leading to unfinished hospitals and unfulfilled promises. It asserts that these same indolent officials, who previously showed little concern for the health system when they were part of the ruling power, now vehemently demand what they never sought for the poor. The article concludes by calling for a clear separation between dedicated health professionals and those who are merely politically appointed, urging a return to the principle that public health is a service, not a business, and that capable, empathetic professionals are needed to truly heal.

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The country and the municipalities are going through a long cycle of economic crisis, they know it and still demand economic treatment that they believe they deserve, as if nothing had happened.