Guatemala Hospitals End Strike
Guatemalan public hospitals restarted on Thursday external consultations after a 48-day partial strike, thanks to an agreement between residents and Health Ministry authorities.

The strike began on June 9 due to lack of medicines, equipment, instruments, and other essential supplies to assist the population.

The residents made the executive commit to provide hospitals immediately with materials and send an exception initiative to the Congress to authorize an urgent $10-million buy of equipment.

The executive will also increase the budget for the health sector in 2007, from the current $276 million up to $410 million.

Guatemala is the Central American country that currently devotes a lesser proportion of the GDP to these services, with barely 0.9 percent.