Complaints about high medical costs rise in Latin America

id=”cuerpo_noticia”> How would you pay for a drug that can save your life? To Mary, a mother who is around 40, would cost about $ 40,000 per month, 20 times the average salary of a Latin American worker. Without this treatment, you can not take care of their two young children and eventually facing death as a result of the rare case of anemia . chronic that afflicts

The dilemma Mary was formidable: get a marrow donor or pay for a new drug Soliris and astronomically expensive-to-treat your condition. She opted for the courts and the state now receives treatment without incurring exorbitant costs.

The rising cost of health care and the needs of a population with life expectancy of 52-to 74 years in just half a century has led to millions of Latin Americans in the doctor’s office to court, demanding their “right to health”. Complaints for this reason have skyrocketed in recent years. For example, in Brazil in 2010, there were about 240,000 litigation while in Colombia between 1999 and 2010, there have been disputes about 900,000. Following this, both legal and health systems, . respond are engaged in a fair and equitable manner to the demands

The central issue facing judges and health officials is: How can the needs of a few will sway fair and just manner the needs of the majority?

The right to health is enshrined in the constitutions of most countries in the region and there has been significant progress in coverage. Today, most Latin American has access to health services, although in some countries and segments of the population, access is still lacking.

For example, in Costa Rica’s life expectancy and infant mortality are comparable to that of OECD countries. The national policy is seen as a regional leader in health issues, from providing universal coverage to its residents. It nevertheless, is not without complaints. In early 2013 the Costa Rican Supreme Court ordered the government to modernize their information systems to health information more transparent and prevent medical records go astray. Something similar happens in Chile, another country considered “star “economically and socially. Miryam, a Chilean mother of six children, took to activism since her youngest son contracted Gaucher disease, requiring enzyme replacement therapy. “My son is fine now but at the time was torture: injections lasted two hours each, and for this reason I became interested in the right to health,”

More. growth, better health services

According to experts, the recurrence of such cases in the region is that public policy has not kept pace with the social demands and health needs of Latin Americans. In the last decade more than 70 million people stop being poor and a majority joined the growing regional middle class. Meanwhile, many countries maintained some social benefits were not designed participatory nor forecast the demands of the new age way.

“This makes us rethink the provision of health care as we know it . systems of service delivery should be centered on the individual and on the patient, “says Maria Luisa Escobar, Health Specialist, World Bank Institute.” should also emphasize primary care and a more holistic approach to the patient from health staff, “adds the expert.

In this regard, Escobar says they are conducting an important conversation among citizens, experts and policy makers. SaluDerecho, ., for example, is a space dedicated to this dialogue for change

Created in 2010, SaluDerecho covers eight countries in Latin America and a wide range of stakeholders, from supreme judges and senior government officials, . to ordinary citizens, academics, and patients who have gathered around the issue of the right to health systems Some notable results include:

• Argentina, Uruguay, Peru and Costa Rica have formed a coalition of the judiciary to deal with matters of public policy on the right to health.



The Supreme Court of Uruguay promoted the establishment of a multi-stakeholder dialogue on health and formed a coalition national to support this work.


• In Costa Rica, inter institutional coalition of public, private and non-governmental institutions, has worked with the public health insurance to increase access to health services. coalition has helped improve waiting lists and electronic medical records.

Experts agree that the “right to health” is not crystallize only with greater resources to pay for more services, or constitutional or legal settings. They require a persistent collective effort to achieve transcendent results and avoid the personal and legal ordeal citizens like Mary or Miryam.

Maya Brahmam, is communicator World Bank.

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Complaints about high medical costs rise in Latin America