The National Unit for Care of Chronic Renal Patients (Unaerc) has a debt of more than Q100 million for hemodialysis treatments, which leaves dozens of patients adrift, as the shortage of medications and supplies worsens every day.
From this account, on February 13, the Fundación de Amor expressed concern regarding the lack of care for kidney patients; However, he explained that it is not a supplier, since they are not State contractors, but rather they have a collaboration agreement and in a document sent to Unaerc they detailed that the debt does not allow them to supply the necessary inputs, since they have not complied either. with financial commitments to its suppliers.
“With great regret and as you are aware, Unaerc owes the AMOR Foundation the amount of Q14,288,344.12, as of January 31, 2024,” says a note sent to the Unaerc authorities by the Foundation. of love.
“The Foundation is a private non-profit entity, so this delay by Unaerc in meeting its financial obligations represents the shortage of supplies necessary to continue providing services to 1,300 patients with chronic kidney failure,” the document details.
Despite the debt, Unaerc analyzes ending the agreement with Fundación de Amor.
In total, Unaerc has debts of more than Q102 million to its suppliers, according to the entity’s spokesperson, Nery Urbina.
Apart from the Fundación de Amor, Unaerc also owes to the companies Nipro and Baxter.
To Fundación de Amor until February 14, the debt was Q14.4 million, Q8 million to Nipro and Q80 million to Baxter; However, the latter two “continue to provide all their services as they normally do, hoping that when we have the necessary budget we will pay that debt,” Urbina highlighted.
Urbina pointed out that they are concerned regarding the “danger in which our patients are being put (…) we are looking for all the alternatives to be able to guarantee the service, we cannot have 85 machines here without being able to use and if we do not have options one of the alternatives that “We are analyzing taking legal and administrative actions to be able to cancel this agreement and guarantee service to our patients, whether with other providers or with them.”
Annelisa Castillo, founder and president emerita of the Fundación de Amor, commented that since November 2023 they have been putting pressure on Unaerc to solve the debt.
Castillo explained that, despite concerted efforts, the situation has worsened due to the lack of funds and the complexity of administrative processes.
“The Unit has only been allocated Q240 million, which must be supplied for peritoneal dialysis and hemodialysis,” said Castillo, who added that during the last two years of the previous government, other supplies were purchased, creating “more need.”
“We are heartbroken, I am a kidney patient, I have had a transplant for 25 years. I was on hemodialysis and peritoneal dialysis, I know what it feels like, I know what it is like to be a kidney patient and I know the fear that not having the hemodialysis machine causes,” Castillo stated.
As part of the procedure, Castillo explained, it is necessary to reestablish the signature of the cooperation agreement between both entities, which is essential to ensure the supply of critical supplies, including the necessary kits and hemodialysis and peritoneal dialysis treatments.
Castillo mentioned that 10 days before the crisis he held a meeting with the Minister of Health – Oscar Cordón – to address the continuity of the agreement. However, Unaerc sought to expand it by more than Q240 million, despite being aware of the existing budget limitations.
“They refuse to sign due to certain clauses that they wish to modify or eliminate, which creates a significant obstacle in the formalization of the agreement,” Castillo explained. Once the agreement is signed, it would undergo legal review, a process that should be completed in less than 12 hours, before being sent to the ministerial office and then to Finance.
“We have recently held conversations with the Minister of Finance, who assured that once he receives the request from the Ministry of Health, he will release the funds immediately, given that they are already available,” Castillo added.
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