Argentina, government continues to undermine public health system

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Argentina's president, Javier Milei, continues to undermine the public health system. The government's attempts to eliminate public health care are being met with resistance from hospital workers themselves, such as those at the Garrahan Pediatric Hospital. teleSUR

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00:00Argentina's President Javier Milley continues to undermine the public health system.

00:05The government's attempts to eliminate public health care are being met with resistance

00:08from hospital workers themselves, such as those at the Garajan Pediatric Hospital.

00:12Let's see.

00:13The President's plan to destroy public health care continues unabated.

00:20Among those affected is the Garajan Pediatric Hospital, the largest in Argentina and one

00:25of the largest in Latin America.

00:27It treats patients from all over the country with the most complex pathologies, but as

00:31the Argentine government insists on defunding it, the staff at Garajan Hospital insists on

00:35continuing to treat its young patients.

00:41We are in the midst of a plan of action.

00:43We define it as a plan of action because we understand that we must oppose the government's

00:47resistance with an extensive fight.

00:53In the midst of this conflict are the patients.

00:58Patients and their families, like us workers, they experience this tension, this anguish,

01:02and this urgent need for the conflict to be resolved in the hospital because it is already

01:06having an impact on care and families are very sensitive to this.

01:17Last year more than 100 transplants were performed at Garajan Hospital including liver, kidney,

01:22and heart transplants but, who are the patients at Garajan Public Hospital?

01:28In the same room there is a patient whose family has great purchasing power and has the best

01:32health insurance in Argentina and he is lying next to a kid from other part of the country

01:36who doesn't have health insurance.

01:38And how does the government resolve staff complaints?

01:45It is a government that has a methodology of ignoring complaints and responding to legitimate

01:49complaints with insults.

01:51Therefore, it generated more anger within the hospital.

01:58The government seems to fail to understand that Garajan ends up saving almost all lives.

02:06Here we treat all diseases.

02:08The most severe ones, the rarest ones, those that cannot be diagnosed even in private clinics

02:12of excellence.

02:14Finally, through the protests of the staff, the workers at Garajan Hospital like the staff

02:22at almost all public hospitals, are trying to stop what is already happening.

02:29There is a shortage of professionals, social workers, nurses and kindergarten teachers.

02:33And that has an impact.

02:35Our own colleagues are leaving.

02:37They are leaving because they have to quit and find another job.

02:40This didn't happen before, but it is happening now.

02:47There we go.

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