Colombia Health System
Student’s Name
Institutional Affiliation
Colombian Healthcare System
The Republic of Colombia is located in the Northwestern of South America is considered by the United Nations as one of the most urbanized countries in the world. It has a population of 50.7 million people, where 80.4% of its citizens are urbanized. The Ministry of Health and Social Protection is responsible for managing, monitoring and organizing the country’s health system (Alliance).
Organisation and Funding of Public Health Care System
The Colombian Health system has various sources of income that support the clinics and hospitals in Colombia. Research carried out in 1991 Columbian Ministry of Health found out that the lack of finances was the main reason the health care system was inaccessible. ( Alvarez, Salmon & Swartzman) . The Colombian Health system uses a Capitation Payment Unit (UPC) to finance its health sector. The UPC which amounted to the US $260 for the year 2017 is used to workers, pension workers and those who work independently.
Colombian Healthcare Structure
Municipalities, districts and departments are responsible for Public Health services and other preventive awareness programs by using a system called the General methods of participation. The system acquires its resources from the general government budget, department and districts also collects taxes for the consumption of alcoholic beverages and even from contributory and subsidized regimes. Colombia is a developing country with middle-income earners; it is considered a developing country which is vulnerable to factors that affect developing countries.
Demographic Changes
A study by Escobar, Giedion, Giuffrida & Glassman (2009) showed that Colombia introduced mandatory health care services. As of 2008, 85 percent of the Colombian people had availability to health care services and insured. Colombia, which is the 3rd largest economy which is the largest third economy in Latin America, has undergone a lot of demographic changes due to elements which have affected the PHC positively.
A Health Regulatory Commission was also established to update the contents that the governmental public health sector, its duties for the past three years has been the establishment of a workable methodology for HTA (Vargas-Zea, 2012). The Colombian health system as of January 2011 enacted a law “Law 1438” which was enacted to ensure universal health coverage, equality on the health plans and strengthening institutions financially.
Performance of Colombia Healthcare System in Terms of WHO
The World Health Organization experiences many problems that are faced by various countries in their health system, according to research by WHO it’s not easy to achieve national and international targets such as the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) without clear measures to investment (World Health Organization, 2007).
World Health Organisation Building Blocks
The World Health Organisation has six building blocks which include excellent health services, healthy and performing workforce, useful health information, easy access to medical supplies and technology, a unique financial system and outstanding leadership and governance. According to WHO, Colombia has improved its communication and technology sector which has helped to boost the health sector. They have a television channel that tries to educate its citizens on various health issues and solutions. Due to this the health system has improved on its response units especially during emergencies
Financial factors
According to the WHO 2000, Columbia was ranked first in the world due to its financial equity. The Colombian government is promoting the formation of big corporations by ensuring the new health system is developed. The Colombian government created a Health Regulatory Commission which has worked to enacting ways of improving the health sector. The Health Regulatory Commission works on establishing a way of improving effectiveness in the supply of medicines, medical supply and devices.
Legal factors
The Presidential Decree 3039 established a National Plan for Public Health. Their main priorities include sexual and reproductive health, mental issues, easily infectious diseases, neonatal care and other ways of improving and promoting national public health. The establishment of health-protective ways and easy access to health services to the rural populated and impoverished areas has been one of Colombia’s greatest achievements (Viana, da Silva, & Yi 2017). This has, in turn, increased the use of health services by rural residents. Since it was introduced in 1993, the number of newborns and maternal cases has reduced significantly. There have also been improved rates of immunization according to the World Health Organization of children who were under two years of age.
Implementations of a Potential Healthcare System for the Colombian Health Sector
International Monetary Fund and World and World Bank promoted health system reforms in Latin America in the 1990s to improve the sector. The Colombian government introduced a new system National Social Security System for health was introduced and was approved by congress in 1993 (WHO, 2007).
The Colombian health system I ranked one of the best in the world, but it’s noted that there is a lack of equitability. The wealthy citizens in Colombia spend more money as compared to the poor, and the government needs to address this issue to ensure that no other hospitals are closed. The community also should play a role in improving the health system by been more engaging and to health problems in the country. UNICEF has reported deterioration in many countries, including Colombia, on the poor immunisations programmes that states have.
Equal Distribution of Resources
The Colombian government can improve this by making sure that all its citizens, especially the poor; have access to all necessary health requirements as stipulated by the World Health Organisation. The Colombian government needs to tackles the issue of reallocation of resources by ensuring that goods and medical supplies are always available to the medical profession to improve service deliveries in hospitals and clinics. Lack of capacity has also been an issue in Colombia.
Financial aid
The Colombian government also needs to put more financial support to the scientific departments and the health sector to ensure that its always prepared for any possible negative incomes in the future or pandemics. The financial aid would also be beneficial to the technological department, which can find more natural ways of managing the health sector and ensuring that the poor citizens can access more information and be more active in health-related issues. The health care sector should also improve the efficiency and effectiveness of its system.
Conclusion
The Colombian Healthcare system provides clear and concise information on how policies changes in the political structure and financial constraints play a significant role in how a country’s healthcare system is, and how it operates. The Colombian government and WHO also work hand in hand by enacting laws and providing financial support to the healthcare system. The Colombian government can also improve the healthcare sector by ensuring that technology is developed, and there is the creation of local data. There also needs to be co-operation between the relevant governing bodies to ensure the smooth flow of information. The Colombian government has provided that resources are allocated efficiently through HTA.
References
Alliance, J. PRIMARY HEALTH CARE SYSTEMS (PRIMASYS).
Alvarez, L. S., Salmon, J. W., & Swartzman, D. (2011). The Colombian health insurance system and its effect on access to health care. International Journal of Health Services, 41(2), 355-370.
Escobar, M. L., Giedion, U., Giuffrida, A., & Glassman, A. L. (2009). Colombia: After a decade of health system reform. From Few to Many, 1.
Vargas-Zea, N., Castro, H., Rodríguez-Páez, F., Téllez, D., & Salazar-Arias, R. (2012). Colombian health system on its way to improve allocation efficiency—transition from a health sector reform to the settlement of an HTA agency. Value in health regional issues, 1(2), 218-222.
Viana, A. L. D. Á., da Silva, H. P., & Yi, I. (2017). Universalizing health care in Brazil: opportunities and challenges. In Towards Universal Health Care in Emerging Economies (pp. 181-211). Palgrave Macmillan, London.
World Health Organization. (2007). Strengthening health systems to improve health outcomes. Geneva: WHO.