Health Costs Concern
Salvadorians
The people of El
Salvador are currently
worried about the cost
of private health care,
faced with a public
health system that has
the lowest investment in
Latin America.
According to a report
published on El Mundo
daily website on Friday,
a foot fracture might
cost over $100, and
could reach $150 on
holidays.
Further expenses cause
those figures to mount,
due to rehabilitation
therapy that runs $15
for each 45-minute
session.
The daily said a patient
with bronchial asthma
could spend up to $500
in four days in
appointments with
doctors,
hospitalization, and
medicines.
According to the Health
Administration,
respiratory diseases are
those with greatest
incidence in the
country, together with
gastrointestinal, and
the medicines used to
cure them are the most
expensive.
The website reported
that a general
practitioner earns
between $20 and $25 per
appointment in the
capital. In the
countryside, they make
between $10 and $15.
However, specialists
charge double or treble
those amounts.
Another medical service
for which Salvadorians
could spend huge sums is
operations, the price of
which is directly
proportional to the
surgical level of
complexity, with the
cheapest being appendix
removal (around $1,800).
Postoperative medicines
are also very expensive,
especially analgesics,
which the University of
El Salvador reported
cost 116 percent over
international market
prices. |
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