Urinary incontinence, a high-cost disease that is not covered

Graciela de la Cruz and Bianka Julia Sánchez are united by both having a history of urinary incontinencewhich is the involuntary leakage of urine in a person of any age. If it has been great for them to suffer an ordeal due to the inconvenience caused by the disease, it has been painful to suffer a high-cost health problem without coverage.

They are right. According to Merycarla Pichardo, urologist and pelvic floor expert: “Absolutely, none of the procedures or products used to treat this condition are covered by Social Security, which generates a negative impact on these patients, since daily costs are generated in terms of the use of diapers, medication, and therapies . Yes, it is an expensive disease, even for them to do nothing, since when you buy a diaper that is not a treatment, but simply put something on so that your clothes do not get wet, you are spending a fortune, and you will still spend it if you you put some treatment ”, he points out.

For this reason, the specialist calls on the authorities of the Superintendence of Health and Occupational Risks (Sisalril) to take urinary incontinence into account, a disease that, with or without treatment, is classified as high cost and although it is not It compromises the lives of patients because it is not oncological, it does impact their quality of life, their emotional health, their way of socializing, and their work performance.

The subject is dealt with when it is commemorated in March, specifically on the 14th, World Urinary Incontinence Day, a date that Pichardo takes advantage of to remind the actors of the Dominican Republic health system of the importance of Social Security covering the treatments that serve to correct this pathology that affects hundreds of patients in the country.

After citing that to treat it you can use a mesh, artificial sphincter, medication, Botox or a neuromodulatorIn more complex cases, the expert, who is part of the Urus Group, explains that this condition is more common in women because they have more conditions that predispose to urinary incontinence, such as pregnancy, pelvic floor weakness, in a general sense, aging, since it is more frequent as the individual advances in age and the frequency increases both in men as in women, with aging. Sometimes it also occurs as a consequence of catastrophic diseases.

Testimonials

Having this condition has marked his life in every way. Graciela de la Cruz is convinced that this process will one day be just the memory of a struggle that she was able to overcome, and that she will give it as a testimony to encourage other patients.

With tears in her eyes, she comments that when she was diagnosed with urinary incontinence at the age of 27, this drastically changed the course of her family, because since then she has not had a normal or social life. Without a job to support herself, a single mother with two children, Graciela explains that her struggle is daily. Every day she has to buy diapers that are around 900 pesos a week and medication 7,600 pesos a month. To correct the condition, she needs a treatment, the sum of which amounts to 13 thousand dollars.

Bianka Julia Sánchez, who has suffered from this condition since she was eight years old, explains that after undergoing surgery, where the neuromodulator was placed, she leads a normal life. She now has control of her body and her basic needs without fear of urine leaking or the feeling that her bladder is constantly full.

Source-listindiario.com