The Algarve Regional Health Administration informed today that the free distribution of Ostomy products has been «assured since the beginning of this week in all Health Centers in the region».
With the regularization of the supply of the respective materials and their availability in the Health Centres, the ARS, as it had already assured at the beginning of this month, claims to continue to «uniformly guarantee their free distribution in the Health Centers of the Region during the year 2014».
The ARS stresses, however, that "although there is no legal obligation on this matter in relation to the Health Centres", it has chosen, "over the past few years, to make these materials/products available free of charge to users who need them in the Health Centers of the region».
Earlier this month of January, the Regional Federation of PS/Algarve had criticized the health centers in the region for not providing these materials free of charge, as had been done so far, and patients having to purchase them for 150 euros and then ask for a refund.
In a statement, the Algarvian socialists denounced that the Health Centers, at least since December last year, had "no longer provided colostomy bags and plates for ostomy patients, mostly cancer patients", due to the "lack of material in the services pharmacists of the ARS Algarve».
The PS regretted that the ARS had not "developed any protection mechanism for patients with economic difficulties, since they will have to have an average of 150 euros to buy the colostomy material."
Socialists even considered that such a decision “shows a profound insensitivity” towards the sick.
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