The financial problems at Medische Zending Primary Health Care Suriname (MZPHCS) are placing increasing pressure on healthcare in the interior. The organisation has not yet received operating funds for the 2026 fiscal year, while its debts have now risen to millions of Surinamese dollars.
MZPHCS provides primary healthcare in the interior on behalf of the Ministry of Health, Welfare and Labour. Due to payment arrears, the organisation can no longer use the services of all airlines.
This poses a risk to medical care, as Medische Zending is largely dependent on air transport for emergencies, supplies and staff transport to remote areas.
“Due to the enormous payment arrears, we can no longer rely on certain airlines,” says Rachel Ten-A-Sang-Beerensteyn, deputy director of Financial, Facility and Logistics Affairs at MZPHCS.
According to her, Mission Aviation Fellowship, an aviation organisation that carries out medical and social flights, among other things, has also drawn attention to the outstanding payments.
Medicine supply under pressure
The financial problems are also affecting the availability of medicines. Part of MZPHCS’s debt to Bedrijf Geneesmiddelen Voorziening Suriname has been taken over by the government.
However, not all necessary medicines are available at BGVS. Medische Zending must therefore also purchase medicines from private suppliers. Payment arrears have also arisen with these companies.
All 58 clinics require maintenance
According to the organisation, the infrastructure is also in poor condition. All 58 MZPHCS clinics require maintenance to a greater or lesser extent.
At the clinic in Klaaskreek, the ceiling in the delivery room is missing, among other things. The windows of a room where babies are regularly checked are also no longer intact.
According to Ten-A-Sang-Beerensteyn, staff are doing their utmost to keep the clinics operational. With the limited budget, only minimal and urgently necessary maintenance work can be carried out.
Local and international partners provide support where possible, but according to MZPHCS, they can contribute only to a limited extent to repair work. Infrastructure support often does not fall within the objectives of these organisations.
Operating funds remain outstanding
Medische Zending receives income from payments for registered insured persons, donations and project funding. According to the organisation, this income is structurally insufficient to cover all healthcare costs in the interior.
“We have so far not received any operating funds for the 2026 fiscal year, even though we are already in the third quarter,” says Ten-A-Sang-Beerensteyn.
Late payments repeatedly create a financial shortfall. Staff must therefore constantly improvise to transport goods and personnel to the service area.
Call for structural consultations
The Ministry of Health has previously intervened to absorb part of the financial problems. However, according to MZPHCS, a structural and sustainable solution has not yet been found.
The organisation is therefore advocating regular consultations with the Ministries of Health and Finance and Planning. During these discussions, MZPHCS wants to explain, based on practical experience, the various cost items and the challenges of providing healthcare in the interior.
According to Ten-A-Sang-Beerensteyn, the public and the authorities have insufficient insight into the actual costs of healthcare in remote areas. Structural consultations should contribute to greater understanding of the financial situation and to a sustainable solution.
