2023-07-16 07:15:48
In recent months, the problems in the medical care of the population have been a recurring theme in the news. The delay in care appointments, long waiting lists for surgeries, postponement and difficulty in gaining access to diagnostic methods are the most mentioned problems. This not only in public hospitals, but also in social and prepaid works. It is evident that the pandemic brought consequences, and these are the most visible in a system that is fragmented and with very large differences in the quantity and quality of services accessible to the population according to the contracting possibilities available. This is above all linked to the economic capacity to pay for a better health service, but it is not limited to economic capacity, also where one resides and age are very important determining factors. The differences in health services according to localities and provinces are gigantic, which is why in these cases many times the only thing left is transfer for care in another locality with better and greater availability.
In this scenario, there are medical specialties that are more affected because their professionals are more in demand due to the high demand and the lower economic possibilities, not only due to salaries, but also due to other associated benefits in pathologies that use high technology for their diagnosis and treatment. , this means better income. In this field, primary care is Cinderella, because it only uses the knowledge of the professional and the simplest technology, but of great value: a good questioning and observation of the context in which the patient and her family work. This, which constitutes the basis of a medical consultation, is the worst payment. For this reason, general medicine, family medicine and pediatrics are the specialties hardest hit in terms of the availability of professionals. The lack of vocations is not because they are specialties that are not liked, but rather they are specialties that require a lot of knowledge and dedication with very low pay. Promoting primary care must be accompanied by an adequate hierarchy of these specialties. Something that is not observed in any subsector of the health system, even less in that of public services, although many ministers express themselves as great defenders of primary health care. That is why the latest complaints of lack of pediatric care with the biggest crisis due to the closure of the guard in two public children’s hospitals in the province of Buenos Aires: Sor María Ludovica in the city of La Plata and the Children’s Hospital in San Right in La Matanza. In the first, 49 pediatricians left throughout the year and were unable to fill the residency positions for pediatrics. What is striking is that in something as sensitive as children’s medical attention, a more effective solution has not been sought. And it has come to this serious situation.
In addition, the increase in poverty that continues reaches 60% in childhood and is associated with the greater dependence on public health services for their care, therefore, the closure of the wards of these two important children’s hospitals has a greater effect on the health problem. The report on the situation of children from the Social Debt Observatory of the Argentine Catholic University, recently published, shows an increase in children who only have access to public health services, from 50.6% in 2010 to 58.4 % in 2022. In the poorest families, exclusive coverage in the public service reaches 90.6%. This, added to the increase in respiratory infections due to the weather, creates a serious health problem with consequences for the health of children. That is why we ask ourselves: where was that that children are the only privileged ones? It seems far from being fulfilled in the province of Buenos Aires.
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#Girls #boys #adolescents #pediatric #care