Santiago Carrasco, president of the Ecuadorian Medical Federation, considers that the measures taken by the national and cantonal Emergency Operations Committee “have always been at the wrong time, out of phase with the epidemiological reality, linked to a political and not a scientific issue.”
In an interview with Un Café con JJ, Carrasco said that the president of the national COE, Juan Zapata, “has not had the advisors that allow him to make the best decisions, in terms of public health, because when we visited him there were dozens of advisers and political decisions are the ones that prevail”.
The doctor questioned that the evidence or studies that support the statements of ministers and authorities are not presented.
Carrasco emphasized that the first thing the Government should do is make the entire situation transparent. Then, create a new epidemiological structure so that the specialists can give the guidelines. Another action, he said, is the activation of community centers for primary care and prevention, as well as community leaders with all the tools. “Give them antigen or PCR tests and, in coordination with the health authority, report where the hot spots are,” he said.
He said that the mentality must change so that the Ministry of Health “stops being a vaccination center” to take into account the rest of the necessary measures to combat the pandemic.
He believes that Guayaquil takes action from a crisis table with experts, while in Quito, he said, cases have increased without taking action.
Carrasco mentioned that what should prevail is the diagnosis in primary care. “Without this work, sooner or later we could go into total lockdown,” he said.
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