Resumen de El desempeño del Sistema Nacional de Salud del Ecuador ante emergencias sanitarias
Wilson Ricardo Cañizares Fuentes
- español
El sistema nacional de salud es un mecanismo por el cual los Estados buscan garantizar la protección de la salud de sus ciudadanos. En determinadas ocasiones este sistema es sometido a exigencias extremas, como cuando se presenta un desastre natural o una pandemia como la que el mundo está pasando con la COVID-19. Los países que tienen sólidos sistemas de salud basados en la atención primaria tienen un mejor desempeño ante estas demandas extremas. La capacidad de respuesta del sistema nacional de salud del Ecuador se estudió a propósito del terremoto de Pedernales que ocurrió en la provincia de Manabí, el 16 de abril del 2016, murieron 663 personas (1), afectó el funcionamiento de varias unidades médicas del Ministerio de Salud Pública (MSP), incluido el hospital de Chone, lugar donde se realizó un estudio (2), que evidenció que los programas y acciones que el MSP estaba ejecutando antes del terremoto, tenían debilidades. Estos programas deben mejorar para proteger adecuadamente a la población ante eventos similares que se presenten en el futuro.
- English
The national health system is a mechanism by which States seek to guarantee the protection of the health of their citizens, each country having its own health system. On certain occasions this system is subjected to extreme demands, such as a natural disaster or a pandemic, as well as what the world is going through with COVID-19. Countries that have strong health systems based on primary health care (reflected in coverage for all their citizens, financial protection, and adequate prevention and health promotion) perform better in the face of these extreme demands. This response capacity of the Ecuadorian national health system was studied regarding the Pedernales earthquake that occurred in the province of Manabí, on April 16, 2016, and in which 663 people died (1), affecting the operation of several units. of the Ministry of Public Health (MSP), including the Chone hospital, where a study (2) financed by the Catholic University of Santiago de Guayaquil was carried out, which showed the programs, management and actions that the MSP should improve to adequately protect to the population before similar events that occur in the future. A triangulation of documentary, qualitative and quantitative methodologies was made. The epidemiological and service production information was systematized from official documents, in-depth interviews were conducted with health program directors and MSP technicians. The users' vision of health care before and after the earthquake was collected through surveys of users of health units.
