Panama - The Legislative Assembly approved in third debate Bill 19, which establishes extended hours in health centers in Panama. The proposal, as detailed by the National Assembly, seeks to improve the population's access to medical services, ensuring timely care and that each health region has at least one primary care facility with extended hours. This Tuesday, prior to its approval in third debate, the Minister of Health, Fernando Boyd Galindo, requested a more thorough analysis of the bill, stating that a "generalized increase in extended hours in health centers" is not necessary and that if approved, it "must have the budget allocations from the Ministry of Economy and Finance (MEF)". Currently, 120 health centers nationwide maintain extended hours through a care scheme tailored to the needs of each region, district, and corregimiento, especially in those places where it is necessary to provide care after working hours, the head of Health assured. During the first debate of Bill 19, the Ministry of Health presented modifications to two of the articles of the project, mainly regarding the extension of hours in health centers. One of the modifications proposed by the institution was to Article 3 of the said Bill, which now reads: "The Ministry of Health, according to the specific needs of each region, will implement policies for the proper and sufficient provision of comprehensive health services and the supply of medicines and supplies, in accordance with current health regulations". The other proposed modification was to Article 4, so that: "health centers, sub-centers, policenters, MINSA CAPS and others similar will operate in the hours determined by the Ministry of Health, according to population needs, installed capacity, availability of human resources and budgetary resources of each health region. Now the President of the Republic, José Raúl Mulino, has 30 days to sanction or veto it.
