british company Haleonwhich manufactures products such as Advil, Dolex, ChapStickamong others, published a health inclusion index in which the policies and processes of the 40 participating countries were evaluated. Colombia was ranked 21st and commitments to health policies stand out, but they found limitations such as the focus on curative care.
For the developers of the index, inclusion in health is defined as: “the process of removing personal, social, cultural, and political barriers that prevent individuals and communities from enjoying better physical and mental health”.
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Thus, they found that the countries of Latin America, which are: Brazil, Costa Rica, Honduras, Cuba, Mexico and Colombiagave the region a score of 65.6; Europe scored 77.9 points and North America scored 83.4 points.
Among all the countries, it was observed that 90% include the concept of self-care in their policies, 93% of the countries recognize the right to health and 20% limit access to health for marginalized sectors.
According to Daniel Quirós, general manager of Haleon in Colombiathey found that “people who are in countries where inclusion in health is prioritized are likely to live longer”.
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Focusing on Latin America, Quirós mentions that “most countries have made progress towards universal coverage, but a lack of financing and a shortage of health personnel remain barriers to access”.
Colombia, specifically, was located in the ranked 21 out of 40 who reviewedwith a score of 70.3 and is in the average of the countries in the study.
Additionally, it is located in the 11th place with public spending on healthThis is because the Government invests 20% of public spending on health.
“The country stands out for its high priority in the formulation of health policies, it has the highest score in promoting well-being in physical, social and mental health, it leads health literacy programs, and there are no policies that restrict access to health care for vulnerable populations such as immigrants”, describe the researchers.
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They found limitations such as “the absence of a person-centred approach and the promoted medicine curriculum, tends to focus on curative care”.
To which is added that Colombia was among the last 15 countries with inclusive health systems, because “there is a lack of infrastructure and personnel.” in front of what David Linsenmeier, President of Haleon for Latin Americaadds that “Health education, the lack of infrastructure and health professionals, as well as prejudices are other factors that must be improved in the country.s”.
For Quirós, “It is vital that the actors in the sector work together to strengthen health system workers, provide more information to citizens and run more campaigns for the population to improve self-care, because this represents savings for the system”.
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A commitment to primary care
One of the key points in the health reform project proposed by the Government is primary care, as a commitment to the prevention of highly complex diseases.
With this initiative, it is sought that more people have access to complete and comprehensive care, in which the determinants of health are examined.
On the other hand, another of the focuses of this proposal, which rescues even those who criticize the reform of the Executive, is that it is intended that people in rural environments also have access.
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