Law of Exceptional Measures for Priority Care

A STATE OF EMERGENCY in the health sector is declared at the national level, given the inadequacy of comprehensive health care for the general population, which shall have a term of one (1) year, and may be extended by the National Congress at the request of the Executive Branch.

The purpose of this Law is to implement exceptional, urgent, temporary, public, and transparent measures necessary to address the health emergency and improve the health systems of the Honduran population, through administrative simplification actions by establishing special and/or simplified contracting procedures, as well as the execution of trusts, special agreements for the provision of services with public entities, and the execution of private contracts, national or foreign, and with non-governmental organizations, among others, with broad participation from Civil Society sectors to achieve effective social oversight.

In order to resolve the emergency in the health sector, especially to eradicate surgical backlog, acquisition and dispensation of medicines, equipment, improvement of health infrastructure, maintenance and assurance corresponding thereto, the Executive Branch is authorized, through the State Secretary's Office in Charge of Health, to:

• 1)

  Execute agreements or contracts with Public or Private Health Service Provision Institutions, as well as Non-Governmental Organizations and any National or International Cooperating entity for the performance of the surgical procedures necessary to eradicate surgical backlog in the country;

• 2)

  Contract through the special procedure established in Article 4 of this Law or direct contracting, the supplies, goods and services, execution of works, lease of goods, and provision of consulting services that are necessary to address the crisis in the public health system; and 3) Contract health care human resources, nursing and administrative personnel that may be required, preferably specialized personnel to address surgical backlog and medicine dispensation through a direct and simplified process based on necessity, including the extension of existing work schedules without interference with pre-established hours and respecting their labor rights.

For those contracts which, in accordance with current regulations, by their amount require being awarded through the modality of Public or Private Bidding, Public or Private Tender, National and International, the following special procedure is established for each contracting:

• 1)

  Establish terms of reference or specifications; in which abbreviated timeframes shall be established as best determined by the officials in charge of the contracting and execution of the measures contained in this Decree;

• 2)

  Publish the bidding or tender processes, or public invitation to national and international providers, through the Honduras State Contracting and Acquisitions Information System "HonduCompras", administered by the State Contracting and Acquisitions Regulatory Office (ONCAE); as well as on the electronic page of the responsible entities;

• 3)

  Receive bids through the corresponding administrative department, in sealed envelopes, conduct public opening of bids and issue the corresponding Minutes. The analysis and evaluation of bids shall be conducted by the Evaluation Committee appointed by the officials of the responsible entities, which shall be comprised of an odd number of members, who shall issue the Recommendation Report of the process;

• 4)

  The officials of the responsible entities shall award in accordance with the Recommendation Report of the Evaluation Committee and shall sign contracts in favor of those offering the best conditions in terms of lowest price and/or requirements established in the terms of reference or specifications;

• 5)

  When the special process is declared void or failed, the corresponding administrative department shall automatically proceed with the direct purchase procedure by sending three (3) invitations as a minimum to possible bidders, who shall submit their corresponding quotations;

• 6)

  The officials of the responsible entities in the execution of the provisions contained in this Decree must submit to the Superior Court of Accounts (TSC) and to the National Congress all contracts executed under the modality of the special process or direct contracting for purposes of audit; and 7) In cases not provided for in this article, the officials of the contracting institutions may adopt the necessary measures to guarantee effective contracting. Once the purchase, acquisition, bidding, tender, and direct contracting process is completed, the bidders that are awarded shall be part, in order of preference, of a list of pre-qualified providers for future contracting.

The contracts and agreements executed under this Decree shall be conducted seeking to obtain the most advantageous conditions in price and quality for the Public Administration and shall be subject to the approval and audit processes provided for by the Constitution and the Laws of the Republic, and must be reported to the Superior Court of Accounts (TSC) and the National Congress. Likewise, the executing agency or agencies shall submit to the State Secretary's Office in Charge of Finance (SEFIN) detailed monthly reports and statistical data of the corresponding investments and executions, for their publication on the official pages of this Secretary and on others that are considered appropriate.

The State Secretary's Office in Charge of Finance (SEFIN) is ordered to identify internal or external sources of financing and to make budgetary modifications among institutions of the Executive Branch, to incorporate into the General Budget of Income and Expenditures of the Republic Fiscal Year 2026, the budgetary items necessary for compliance with the provisions of this Decree in order to address surgical backlog, purchase of medicines, supplies, surgical medical material and equipment, their respective dispensation, equipping of hospitals and their maintenance, as well as any other technical and operational requirement. The budgetary movements that are made must be reported to the Budget Commission of the National Congress of the Republic.

Public Administration entities, Non-Governmental Organizations, or Private Companies with which a contract/agreement is already signed are authorized to grant tax and/or customs exemptions and exclusions strictly necessary for the importation of goods, including spare parts and indispensable supplies for the same, and that are required for the fulfillment of the objectives of the Law of Economic Reactivation and Human Development in the Sectors of Health, Agro-Food, and Infrastructure.

The State Secretary's Office in Charge of Health is ordered to issue within thirty (30) days the creation of cost sheets that define the real price of each medical procedure and with the participation of the Honduran Council of Private Enterprise (COHEP), Association for a More Just Society (ASJ), National Anti-Corruption Council (CNA), Medical College of Honduras (CMH), National Association of Auxiliary Nurses of Honduras (ANEEAH), Union of Medical, Hospital and Related Workers of Honduras (SITRAMEDHYS) and others, the Regulations of this Decree and publish it in the Official Gazette "La Gaceta" and at least in a newspaper of national circulation.

TRANSITORY. By virtue of this Emergency, the Executive Branch is authorized to execute through Direct Contracting a Trust with a bank in the national system, for a term of one (1) year counted from the execution of the contract, in order to expedite the care of surgical backlog, purchase of medicines and equipment, their respective dispensation, equipping of hospitals, assurance and corresponding maintenance, as well as any other technical, operational, or other requirement, and planning for a bidding process must begin immediately for the award of said trust contract upon termination of the one-year term established in this article. In favor of Transparency and Legality, this trust must have throughout its entire contracting and execution process all corresponding internal and external audits.

In order to strengthen the Constitutional principle that Health is a public good and due to the temporary nature of this Decree, the State Secretary's Office in Charge of Health is ordered to immediately initiate a process of planning and execution that allows in the shortest time possible to conduct all medical care in the public health establishments of the country, and must report quarterly to the Ordinary Health Commission of the National Congress the advances of this provision; the following result indicators shall be: The number of surgeries performed, the detailed supply by hospital, and the average waiting time.

This Decree shall enter into force as of the day of its publication in the Official Gazette "La Gaceta". Given in the city of Tegucigalpa, Municipality of the Central District, in the Session Hall of the National Congress, on the second day of the month of February of Two Thousand Twenty-Six.