«It is difficult to fight against the disease and also to add the battle against a system in which you are simply a file number.«. Thus, Karina Cabrera, member of the civil association Valkirias Rosas of Villa Regina, denounced constant delays in the delivery of oncological medicines.
The association is made up of about 30 women who are experiencing – or have already overcome – breast cancer. The project was born in 2020 from a canoeing meeting organized by the Bioimaging graduate, Liliana Pagliaricci, and the municipality’s Sports Director at that time, Ariel Oliveros, to promote sports activity that favors the rehabilitation of the upper limbs. and lymphatic drainage.
“The challenge was to accompany the women through their illness and raise awareness about the need for a timely check-up to detect cancer,” said Cabrera, who is part of the Digo del del community. Rio Negro Newspaper. And he added: “Today we know that rowing helps prevent lymphedema (an arm swelling caused by a blockage of the lymphatic system). That’s why we hope to be able to buy the dragon boat for rowing in the future. But it costs 10 thousand dollars.”
In recent times, the association has focused on delays in the delivery of chemotherapy medication. They claim that “It doesn’t arrive in a timely manner” and in some cases, they record delays of between two and three months. “The oncologist tells the patients that they must undergo chemotherapy on a certain date, they carry out the corresponding paperwork with Public Health or Ipross, but the medication does not arrive,” she criticized and said that “there are many excuses: that they do not enter the country or that the Nation does not send them. The truth is that the patient is not to blame.”
«This is not a flu – he continued – where you rest and recover in a few days. We talk about cancer. We have colleagues with metastases in the bones or lungs.
He said that this situation has been going on for four years, although there have been many more delays in recent times. This newspaper tried to consult the authorities of the Ministry of Health of Río Negro, but has not yet received any answers.
“Women don’t know what to do. A box of medication arrives and they share it among themselves because they have to take it every day. When another box arrives, they give it back. It’s not something we can all pool our money together and buy because it costs millions.«, he stated.
He stressed that for a patient, taking medication on time “prolongs his life” and “there is a law that protects the chronically ill.”Not having medication on time means that the cancer advances and your life fades away. When you have this diagnosis, you don’t sleep. You bite your pillow so your children don’t hear you cry. It’s not fair that they have to suffer this kind of situation on top of that.
