The University of Buenos Aires (UBA) has declared an economic emergency due to the Government's budget adjustment. It is still unknown whether the UBA will be able to continue operating beyond the middle of the year.
Among other measures to combat the deficit in public accounts, the Milei Government extended to 2024 the state budget of the previous year, voted by Congress at the end of 2022. The budget crisis most affects academic units that face high costs in teaching supplies for laboratory practices, such as the faculties of Medicine, Dentistry, Veterinary Medicine, or Exact and Natural Sciences. The UBA has six highly complex university hospitals, where not only teaching and research is carried out, but also where the population is cared for: last year more than half a million people visited its offices. “For the health function of the university, the Government did not even send us the extended budget. We have received zero pesos. If there is no prompt response, in the second semester the hospitals will not be can to continue functioning,” warns the vice-rector.