Government Declares 2008 Health Promotion Year

The Dominican government, through decree number 706-07, declared 2008 to be “The Year for the National Promotion of Health,” and instructed the Secretary of State for Public Health and Social Responsibility to develop a national program to include the widespread participation of the public and private sectors in carrying out relative activities this year, according to a press release from the President’s Office of Information, Press and Publicity.

The decision taken by President Leonel Fernández takes into account the constitutionally protected rights of individuals including the guarantee to the pursuit of happiness.

In addition the Magna Carta confers upon the Dominican state the responsibility to organize and manage a collective, individual and harmonious health system such as the gradual development of social security.

The decree insists that the promotion of health should be a priority of the National Health Policy based on the General Law Number 42-01 and the Dominican Social Security Law Number 87-01, both of which guarantee the best and most efficient National Health Care System.

The decree also mentions that the Dominican Republic is a signatory to the Ottawa Agreement which orients and directs health services, designated by the afore-mentioned legislative bodies of Health and Social Security.

The agreement indicates that the promotion of health should involve a broad involvement of society in order to guarantee the social mobilization, development and application of health policies which imply the involvement of all sectors of society.

Decree 706-07 states that promotion is one of the essential functions of the public health sector and should continue to be prioritized in the reform process that is underway in the Dominican Republic. This is ever more important now that statistics of death and birth rates have revealed that the main causes of illness and death are preventable.