A medical diagnosis in time can mark a before and after in the life of a person. Chronic noncommunicable diseases such as cancer, as well as cardiovascular diseases, diabetes and chronic pulmonary diseases, pose increasing challenges for both Latin America’s health systems and patients, often silently and without being detected until the symptoms are already very advanced. An equal subtle transformation could be the key to new job opportunities that allow offering quality health care in the region.
“I work in a fonda and if I miss to go to the doctor do not pay me the work day,” exemplifies Ileana Chacón, mentioning the difficulties of attending an appointment with a specialist. For three years Ileana, who suffers from hypertension and diabetes, lives controlling her blood pressure and sugar levels daily to adjust her medication according to their results.
Ileana’s case is not isolated. As the countries in the region advance in their demographic transition, the load that noncommunicable diseases impose on health systems. A recent World Bank report in Colombia indicates that during the 2012-2016 period multimorbility, that is, the presence of two or more chronic diseases at the same time, presented a prevalence of 19.5%, which leads to an increase in the use and cost of associated health services. According to specialists, this requires that there is greater innovation of health systems, especially in the training and exercise of human talent.
As Ileana, more than 60,000 people with chronic diseases receive telemedicine services in 12 of the 16 health regions of Panama, through a project supported by the World Bank. This is just an example of the necessary integral solutions for patients to receive directly and bureaucratic obstacles, while generating good economic results.
It is proven that investing in better health and nutrition strengthens human capital and helps to have a more productive population, which would result in the generation of millions of jobs. For each new health job, 3.4 jobs are generated in other related areas, according to new estimates of the World Bank in low -income countries.
“The challenge for the region is not only to increase investment in health but to do it strategically and comprehensively,” says Tania Dmytraczenko, manager of the health, nutrition and population of the World Bank for Latin America and the Caribbean. The expert ensures that work with national governments and the private sector seeks to connect the formation of health specialists, the deployment of new technologies and infrastructure construction. “Thus we seek to create a sanitary ecosystem that generates not only well -being but also employment,” he explains.
A interrupted spiral
To value this productive chain and employment creation, Latin America must substantially increase investment in health. Public expenditure reaches barely $ 775 per capita, less than a fifth of the average compared to OECD countries, where this indicator exceeds $ 4,000. Even when other indicators are seen, the results are worrisome: the number of nurses per 1,000 inhabitants is three times lower compared to the countries of this organization.
The good news is that there are good practices that are already improving people’s lives in the region. This is the case of Guillermo Frías, a neighbor of the department of Villa Burruyacú, a small town of less than 2,000 inhabitants of northern Argentina. “I arrived on the hospital on Sunday and my sugar levels were in 460, almost three times more than recommended,” he says from the public center where it is today. “After the studies I could carry all the treatment in the same center, receive medication and learn to carry a healthier diet,” he summarizes.
Ensure that patients such as Guillermo receive the medical services they need without this generating financial difficulties is a priority of the Sumar Plan, an Argentine government project. With the support of the World Bank since 2004, this initiative has already reached 17.5 million Argentines and guarantees its access to integrated and quality care. In addition, the project has allowed the improvement of children in the public system, helping to lower infant mortality and other health risks. Each dollar invested in combating malnutrition, indicates world bank data globally, produces a yield of 23 dollars thanks to the increase in productivity and the improvement of health results.
Behind these efforts is the universal health coverage approach (CSU), which seeks to ensure that all people, especially the most vulnerable, have access to quality medical services without facing financial difficulties.
Technology and alliances to trigger value
Providing quality medical services and triggering the health value chain requires a strategic look and a union of forces that allow the release of all the potential.
The World Bank works with the countries of the region to modernize health services and thus facilitate access. In Argentina, an initiative with the Government of the Province of Buenos Aires seeks the digitalization of medical records in more than 150 provincial and local hospitals located in the most vulnerable communities.
Digitized information allows to improve medical care, while facilitating the application of new technologies, which also generates new quality jobs. This allows, for example, that these same health centers can already use telemedicine tools to control and address dengue cases in the area.
This adds to the alliance between the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO), the World Bank and the Inter -American Development Bank (IDB) to strengthen health financing.
“The Alliance for Primary Health Care represents an unprecedented commitment,” confirms Dmytraczenko, who emphasizes that this union of forces will allow “promoting strategic investment, innovation and implementation of transformative policies” in order to move towards universal health coverage. “We seek that all people, especially the most vulnerable, have access to quality medical services without facing financial difficulties,” he says.
Good health is not just the absence of diseases. Health and accessible health care allows to unlock a large number of economic opportunities, generating new quality jobs and strengthening local economies.
