The Dominican Republic received the Pro-Tempore presidency of the Council of Ministers of Health of Central America and the Dominican Republic (COMISCA), which it will preside from July to December 2022.
The transfer was made after the Republic of Panama finalized its commitment to lead the presidency of the organization during the period January-June 2022, with decisive challenges that aim to improve the quality of regional health in an international context that continues to be marked by the COVID-19 pandemic and, more recently, Monkeypox.
During the LVI Ordinary Meeting of COMISCA, Dr. Daniel Rivera, Minister of Health, in a virtual message, congratulated the Ministry of Health of Panama for its leadership of the COMISCA organization.
He also considered it a challenge to assume the destiny of the organization, given the panorama that still prevails due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the threat of re-emerging diseases and the world crisis generated by the Russia-Ukraine conflict, but said that the Dominican Government has the firm intention of guaranteeing access to quality health care with humanization to the population.
On behalf of the Minister of Health, Dr. Daniel Rivera, the COMISCA PPT was received by Mr. Miguel Rodríguez Viñas, Vice Minister and Director of Planning of the Ministry of Health of the Dominican Republic, who indicated his country’s commitment and leadership to continue with the advances in regional health during the next six months.
“It is our commitment to continue promoting joint actions and efforts that converge in the fulfillment of common objectives and the strengthening and development of the region’s health system,” said Rodríguez Viñas.
The Minister of Health of Panama, Dr. Luis Francisco Sucre, in transferring the commitment to the Dominican Republic, highlighted the work carried out with the support of the regional technical bodies and the SE-COMISCA to comply with the priorities of the semester, facing the pandemic, the commitment to vaccination against COVID-19 and resuming the ordinary commitments in other issues of the regional health agenda.
The rotation of the Pro-Tempore Presidency of COMISCA is carried out in accordance with Article 3 of the Regulations of the Pro-Tempore Presidency of the Central American Integration System, SICA, which states that: “The Pro-Tempore Presidency is exercised by rotation every six months in the Central American geographic order”.