Guatemalan Hospitals in
Crisis
Shortage of resources
and saturation of
hospitals has brought
the Guatemalan hospital
system to the verge of a
crisis, revealed a study
from the Human Rights
Attorney's Office.
After Monitoring 40 of
the 46 centers of public
attention the result was
that hospitals were in a
very bad state, lacking
specialized equipment,
medical supplies and
medicines.
According to data
collected by the
humanitarian
institution, 25 percent
of basic drugs are not
available and 38 percent
of the patients said
they have not received
medicine when needed.
Also 93 percent of the
5,051 beds are full,
constituting a
saturation of services
and shortage of
capacity, which could be
critical in a national
emergency.
According to Rolando Roc
from the Human Rights
Attorney's Office the
public health system
will be one of the
subjects to take into
account by the incoming
government.
Over four million of
Guatemalans living in
the countryside receive
some primary attention
from non-governmental
organizations while
hospitals in the cities
are too over crowded to
care for the population. |
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