Maternal mortality among the poorest women in Latin America is seven times higher than that of the richest women

Maternal mortality among the poorest population in Latin America and the Caribbean is more than seven times higher than that of the richest population, warns a report of the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC) and the Pan American Health Organization (OPS) published this Monday.

The same occurs with the mortality of children under five years of age: the group with the lowest income has around 4.5 times more risk of dying compared to the most economically advantaged group.

In the case of chronic diseases, the poorest have a 46% higher risk of dying between the ages of 30 and 69 from these diseases. Furthermore, data from 2019 indicates that the mortality rate attributed to unsafe water, poor sanitation and lack of hygiene is almost six times higher in the lowest income quintile.

All this makes evident the urgency of increasing public spending on health, which was 4.5% of GDP in 2021a percentage still lower than the goal of at least 6.0% proposed by the UN health agency.

Do not postpone health on the public agenda

According to the organizations, inequalities in access to health, gaps in the quality of care received and the high out-of-pocket expenses incurred by the population “reveal the urgency of increasing public spending on health.”

For this reason, they urged the countries of the region “not to postpone health on the public agenda.”

In 2021, only 61% of the region’s total health spending corresponded to public spending, which highlights the importance that private spending still has in the countries.

Thus, on average, That year, households in the region had to cover more than 28% of total health spending with direct out-of-pocket payments.and in 11 countries out-of-pocket spending exceeded 35%.

According to the organizations, these expenses reproduce inequalities in access and quality of care, and can involve expenses that impoverish people.

Invest more and better

The PAHO director stressed that almost three in 10 people have unmet healthcare needs in the regionso countries must invest “more and better.”

“Not only in hospitals and health centers, but in the appropriate combination of human resources, infrastructure, equipment, medicines and health technologies that guarantee quality care for everyone,” said Jarbas Barbosa.

For his part, the executive secretary of ECLAC pointed out that Latin America and the Caribbean persist problems of financing, fragmentation and segmentation of health systems.

“Now more than ever, transformations are required in the region’s development models, with health being essential for the expansion of social protection and to move towards more productive, inclusive and sustainable development,” indicated José Manuel Salazar-Xirinachs.