Ineram Has Essential Medicines, but Supplies Remain Unreliable

Paraguay’s National Institute of Respiratory and Environmental Diseases, known as Ineram, has the essential medicines needed to continue treating patients, but its supply chain remains unstable.

Pulmonologist and former Health Minister Carlos Morínigo said the hospital still lacks some basic supplies, including urinary catheters and anesthetics. It has aerosol antibiotics for respiratory illnesses and general-use anesthetics, although some anesthetic supplies are missing.

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We have a fluctuating supply, but we have the essentials for now. Fluctuation in the supply of medicines and food is the defining feature.

“We have a fluctuating supply, but we have the essentials for now. Fluctuation in the supply of medicines and food is the defining feature,” Morínigo said.

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We are waiting for this to be regularized and for medicine supplies to become continuous.

He called for regular, continuous deliveries so patients do not have to cover the cost of supplies themselves. Although the missing items are basic, families can face larger expenses when they must buy them frequently and in large quantities. If broad-spectrum medicines are unavailable, daily costs for intensive-care patients can reach 600,000 to 700,000 guaraníes.

Morínigo also criticized Ineram’s facilities. The hospital continues to operate with only two operating rooms, which he said is no longer enough to meet demand. He acknowledged that the hospital recently received new instruments, but said the equipment did not resolve its structural limitations. “We need to strengthen specialized hospitals,” he said.

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We need to strengthen specialized hospitals.