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Colombia HEALTH AND WELFARE
In 1988 most Colombians enjoyed significantly better
health
care and nutrition than previous generations. The country
had risen
from the ranks of the poorest nations in Latin America
during the
1950s and 1960s to an intermediate status in the 1980s,
according
to health indicators. These improvements were the result
of rapid
socioeconomic modernization, which was accompanied by
improvements
in education and working conditions; greater access to
urban health
care facilities, running water, and sewerage systems; and
more
modern attitudes toward sexuality, medicine, disease
prevention,
nutrition, and exercise. There were also explicit state
policies
designed to improve access to and availability of health
care and
medical services. In the 1970s and 1980s, Colombia
developed a
public and private infrastructure of hospitals and other
health
care facilities, a widespread network of medical schools,
and a
specialized set of institutions responsible for
formulating and
handling public policy in the health sector.
Despite general improvement, the benefits of better
health care
in 1988 were not evenly distributed among the different
strata and
regions of Colombian society. Urban areas, the upper and
middle
classes, blue-collar workers, and the central Andean
region enjoyed
above-average health conditions. In contrast, the rural
and urban
poor suffered from higher mortality and morbidity rates
because of
inadequate or inaccessible medical services, housing, and
food. In
the late 1980s, Colombian health policy makers were faced
with the
task of improving services to the least-favored segments
of
society, while improving the quality and overall
performance of the
national health care system.
Data as of December 1988
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