Hospital de Trauma workers are seeking a law specifically for the institution and salary increases in the 2027 budget, as well as permanent status for 42 contract workers and an incentive retirement plan for 10 employees.
Isaías Fretes
Pytagua coverage mentioning Isaías Fretes.
Paraguay has opened its first Robotic Surgery Training Center, equipped with the South Korean REVO-i system, in a cooperative initiative between the two countries aimed at training professionals and positioning Paraguay as a regional training center.
During a surprise ‘Taguato’ visit to San Lorenzo General Hospital, Paraguay’s health minister, Isaías Fretes, pointed to staff shortages and laboratory problems, toured services including diagnostic imaging, and advocated protocols and audits to reduce unnecessary tests.
An IPS audit identified a G. 625.159 billion discrepancy between electronic records and the physical movement of medicines and supplies from 2020 to 2024, attributing it to failures in system integration and incomplete documentation. It did not prove a shortfall, while the institution investigates possible responsibility.
Isaías Fretes took over Paraguay’s Health Ministry after political pressure, a doctors’ strike and demands from Horacio Cartes, Lilian Samaniego, Noelia Cabrera and Sinamed directed at María Teresa Barán, promising to expand prevention and Family Health Units, combat misappropriation — “opá la ñemondá,” he said, speaking as “Juan Pueblo” — and bring care to the country’s most remote regions.
Santiago Peña began a 10-day trip to Venezuela and the United States to try to restore relations with Caracas, address Petropar’s debt of about $300 million to PDVSA and seek investment in New York, while Isaías Fretes was appointed health minister after leaving the IPS board of directors.
An audit by the Comptroller General’s Office estimates a G. 65.5 billion loss in the IPS’s real estate assets between 2023 and 2025, attributed to low returns and occupancy and collection problems, while new surveys point to possible irregularities in land in the Chaco.
An agreement between the Paraguayan government and unions providing for a 5% salary increase in 2027 reduced the national teachers’ strike, but divided the organizations and kept groups seeking 8% mobilized before some of them suspended the action.
The government and Sinamed reached an agreement providing for increases of up to G. 2 million per employment relationship, 1,500 new appointments in 2027 and US$260 million for medicines and supplies in next year’s budget, but suspending the strike still depends on a medical assembly.
Paraguayan Deputy Minister Saúl Recalde apologized after being filmed holding doctor Freddy Hernán Cantero by the neck at the Ministry of Health and placed his position at the minister’s disposal.
Paraguay’s Central Administration executed ₲46 trillion between January and August 2026, with spending concentrated on salaries, transfers, social programs and health, which received ₲2.1 trillion to settle pharmaceutical obligations and maintain the supply of medicines and medical supplies.
Itaipu opened its spillway on Sunday to release excess water and control the reservoir level after increased rainfall, with the flow reaching 3,100 m³/s and no impact on electricity supplies to Brazil and Paraguay.
Santiago Peña reshuffled Paraguay’s health leadership, appointing Isaías Fretes as minister and Derlis León as IPS president, while doctors maintain a strike over a salary increase and an audit warns about the concentration of social security funds at Ueno Bank.
Paraguay’s Chamber of Deputies will again review a bill that could allow different financial products from the same institution to be counted separately, while IPS investments in Ueno Bank exceeded the legal limit described in the sources.
Paraguay's Social Security Institute faces a multifaceted crisis with a mass exodus of doctors, a change in its board, an asset crisis, and a bill to declare a state of emergency, while the government highlights its construction of new hospitals.
Paraguay's Social Security Institute (IPS) is spending more to resume construction of surgical centers at the Central Hospital in Asunción after fraud, million-dollar contract amendments, and three-year delays in the contract with Neighpart S.A., while former managers are investigated for losses to the public treasury.
While Paraguay's Social Security Institute (IPS) approves a mandatory digital census for retirees, the institution faces a crisis with stalled modular operating room construction, which has consumed multimillion-dollar payments and generated lawsuits, and with the allegation that 569 nurses receive less than the minimum wage.
Paraguayan President Santiago Peña denied payment to foreign influencers in the country, highlighted the attraction of digital nomads and investments in infrastructure and security, but documents reveal the government allocated $1.5 million for campaigns with influencers until 2027, in addition to defending the Social Security Institute (IPS) and avoiding comment on Horacio Cartes' Senate candidacy.
IPS began its restocking plan with the arrival of 124 medicines, which will reduce the shortage rate from 28% to 19% in the next 15 days and is expected to cover demand for two months.
Paraguay's Prosecutor's Office charged nine former IPS employees, including former presidents, for embezzlement of G. 61 billion in a contract for modular operating rooms never installed.
Paraguay's Social Security Institute seeks to recover $711 million from private companies and proposes a trust as a solution, while facing budget pressure in healthcare, with most medication funds consumed by oncology drugs.
The president of Paraguay's Social Security Institute (IPS), Isaías Fretes, warns of an irreversible crisis at the institution after 100 days of management, marked by severe financial challenges, medicine shortages, and a "perfect storm" caused by reduced working hours for health professionals.
IPS plans to refinance short-term liabilities to free about 105 billion guaranis a month for medicines. The Economy Ministry and a Senate committee currently oppose bonds and emergency legislation, respectively.
The IPS, the largest holder of public funds in the Paraguayan banking system, is considering investing abroad after reaching its legal investment limit in the sector.