Paraguay government defends medical pay scale while admitting medicine budget is insufficient

Paraguay’s government is defending a merit-based pay scale for doctors while acknowledging that its health budget cannot currently cover the system’s needs for medicines and supplies.

Presidential Chief of Cabinet Javier Giménez and Health Minister María Teresa Barán presented the government’s position during an interview on the program Mesa con EVP. They rejected the salary adjustment sought by the Medical Union and said the proposal aims to change how medical-sector pay is structured.

Giménez said the dispute is not only about how much doctors should earn. The government opposes a universal minimum base salary and instead proposes a scale reflecting seniority, specialization, training and hours worked. “We can find a solution, only through a much more meritocratic path,” he said.

He also warned of what he called a “moral hazard” for public finances if strikes and protests become a way to secure salary increases without considering differences in performance and training. Giménez said other state employees could later seek a similar arrangement, and argued that the model should remain sustainable for Paraguay and defensible to taxpayers.

Barán defended the government’s management and said it was investing more in the health system. She said President Santiago Peña’s administration wanted to establish a long-term state policy on health rather than one limited to its current term. During the same interview, however, she admitted that the existing budget for medicines and supplies is not enough to meet needs. The discussion is taking place amid questions about the availability of medicines and other supplies in public hospitals, as doctors continue their labor dispute.

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We can find a solution, only through a much more meritocratic path.