Abstract
In 2008, the newly written Ecuadorian Constitution guaranteed access to healthcare for all citizens. Consequently, a vast amount of resources have been directed toward rebuilding the public healthcare system, which was in shambles due to the effects of neoliberalism. Although national healthcare studies show positive outcomes, community-based research studies from an impoverished rural barrio in southern Ecuador indicate that the public healthcare system has been unable to address a health epidemic. Based on several years of fieldwork, we argue that the failure originates from the continued functioning of the biomedical model of healthcare as the dominant health discourse in Ecuador. The ensuing result has been the construction of health system governed by an “administrative state” that enforces health policies from the top-down and delivers “episodic” emergency-style care. Accordingly, we maintain that the Ministry of Health (MOH) should create a nationwide community-based health promoter program guided by the principles of health promotion.
Highlights
Since winning the presidency in 2006, President Correa and his political allies have been at the forefront of a so-called “citizens’ revolution” in Ecuador
The vast majority of residents, 92.6%, utilize the public healthcare system as their primary provider. This finding is not surprising considering that the poverty-stricken state of the community as families are all but forced to use the public healthcare system due to an inability to pay for a private doctor
Access has been greatly increased through an expansion of infrastructure and newly designed intervention programs have drastically reduced the rate of childhood anemia and other typical diseases in Ecuador
Summary
Since winning the presidency in 2006, President Correa and his political allies have been at the forefront of a so-called “citizens’ revolution” in Ecuador. Bywater who steps foot in the country regardless of citizenship status To accomplish this objective, the State Constitution was rewritten in 2008 to provide the government with the necessary legal authority to reinvent key institutions including the healthcare system [3]. Over the past several years, the MOH has been quite busy increasing the public health presence throughout Ecuador via the expansion of infrastructure and personnel along with developing state-led intervention programs to address serious healthcare problems. We maintain that the Ecuadorian healthcare system should implement a nationwide community-based health promoter program based on the principles of health promotion and preventive care in order to build a healthcare system that is able to effectively address infectious diseases at the community level while simultaneously providing high quality health services
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