Peruvian President Martin Vizcarra called on political parties to select their candidates wisely so that the population can choose from the best in the following general elections scheduled for April next year.
"If we have good candidates, we will have good authorities, but if parties do not strive to select good prospects, the population will have to choose from the candidates they proposed," he stated.
The Head of State affirmed that there are capable, honest people willing to work, who should be called by political parties to join their presidential tickets, as well as their lists of candidates for Congress and Andean Parliament.
"Call them, call the new ones, call women who make a great effort and cope with hard work, and call the youth to run for Congress and join the presidential tickets, so there are good options to choose from," he added.
In this sense, the statesman affirmed that the remaining three months of the year will be crucial, not only in the political arena, but in the health, education, and budget execution spheres.
Mental healthcare
Remarks were made during the establishment of the National Mental Health Council (CONASAME) at the Government Palace.
On the matter, he noted that his administration has improved mental healthcare since he took office, by increasing the number of healthcare facilities five times but, in spite of this, the country needs twice as many of them.
Mr. Vizcarra commented that, according to the
Ministry of Health (Minsa), 20 in every 100 people in Peru are affected by a mental disorder. Similarly, 20 in 100 children suffer from the same disorder, but only 2 in 10 mentally ill people get professional help.
In this regard, he reported that the budget for mental health has been doubled and, during the pandemic, an urgency decree was issued to allocate resources to regions in order to implement community mental health centers, mental health inpatient units, and itinerant healthcare services.
Published: 10/14/2020