National government tabled health reform bill in Congress

After 4:45 p.m. on Monday, February 13, 2022, the symbolic act of establishing the health reform projectone of the most controversial initiatives of the current government.

The ceremony, attended by doctors, health sector officials and patients, was led by the head of this portfolio, Carolina Corcho, who said that this project aims to “enforce the fundamental right to health “. He also indicated that, if approved, it would be a blow to entities that “do business with life.”

He also said that “health is a right, does not admit inequalities, discriminations, segmentations. This is what we want to represent in this bill, which is the result of many years of discussions between organizations, workers, patients, academics and various sectors which, included in the program of the president and the vice- president, find today a possibility that this proposal obtains a majority in the Congress of the Republic so that the change in the health of the Colombians begins”.

Likewise, the President of the Republic received the articles from doctors and patients with various disabling conditions, and later said that this preventive health model aims to improve the living conditions of those who live in remote areas of the country. country.

The Minister of Health also summarized that the articles contain 18 chapters and more than 150 articles, which include key elements to transform the current system; however, he focused on five. The first concerns the recovery of public resources so that they “are directed transparently towards the provision of health and life care services in Colombia in an equitable manner (…) Restore this right in abandoned territories”.

The second paragraph referred to in Cork It is based on primary care, for which a network of public, private and mixed primary care centers will be created across the country. At this point in his speech, he mentioned that the current government’s commitment is “give back to communities and the most vulnerable sectors” with the acquisition of extramural equipment and medical personnel “worthy, well paid, with incentives” to carry out their work in areas far from the rural and urban sectors.

This is precisely the central theme of the third article quoted: the dignity of medical personnel, especially those in an informal situation.

In this regard, he argued that “we must take care of those who take care of life in Colombia and those who take care of life in Colombia will have to be worthy of fair compensation”. the fourth itemaccording to the official, stresses that health cannot be understood as the cure of disease, but that “the social determinants” of this area must also be included, such as drinking water, the environment, food sovereignty and d other life-determining resources.

At the end of his speech, he pointed out that another of the articles requires the construction of a public information system in order to “guarantee transparency in the management of health resources” and underlined that the money from this sector is not intended for corruption “nor for business”.

“We believe that this debate must be taken out of the conflicts inherent in polarization. What is at the center of the discussion is the life of Colombians, which is a superior public good, which must be above any political difference,” added Minister Corcho.

After the official speech, it is President Petro’s turn to speak. He tapped into the approval of others reforms such as taxation, whose first objective – according to him – was to create fairer conditions for the payment of taxes. Immediately afterwards, he said that the content of social projects proposed by the national government should be subject to public debate. In this order, he mentioned other projects such as pension and labor reform, which will be presented in 2023 to the Legislature.

With regard to the health sector, the Head of State specified that it aims to “serve anyone on the national territory” and that a doctor can go to any sector of the country. He also said there was a need to reform the current system due to the “millions” of guardianships filed by users of PES seek care for their treatment and that of their loved ones.

After her speech, the papers were directed by Minister Carolina Corcho to Congressional headquarters for tabling. From there, he reiterated that this reform is designed for the 50 million Colombians and not just for those who voted for Gustavo Petro and Francia Márquez in the last presidential elections.

“Be absolutely certain that the health system will not go backwards, it will move forward and improve,” the minister said. He even clarified that no treatment will be interrupted if the initiative is approved.