Type 2 diabetes affects millions of people in Latin America and represents one of the greatest challenges for health systems. In Ecuador, this condition particularly impacts rural and vulnerable populations, such as those in the province of Chimborazo, where health centers must respond to growing demand with limited resources.
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The lack of long-term care services increases hospital costs and can make healthcare systems unsustainable. In Mexico, older people with functional limitations—those who need long-term care—are up to 23 percentual points more likely to be hospitalized than functionally independent individuals. Once hospitalized, they are also more likely to stay longer.
Hospital beds are a scarce resource in Latin America and the Caribbean, yet many are taken up by patients whose conditions could be managed outside the hospital, for example in clinics or doctors' offices, according to a new IDB analysis.
By 2050, most countries in Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC) are expected to experience per capita health spending growth rates that outpace the growth of their national income. According to a recent IDB-financed study, per capita health spending in the region could nearly triple by 2050, with annual growth rates above 3% between 2030 and 2050.
Reflections from the first IDB regional forum IDB Cares: Connecting Care: Learning between governments
Health systems in Latin America and the Caribbean face growing challenges in ensuring efficient, sustainable, and high-quality services for everyone.
What happens when a household loses a job, gets hit by flood, or experiences a health emergency? For many families in the region, it’s not just a one-time hardship, it’s part of a repeating pattern.
Clara Contrera had been thinking for months about how to improve primary care for her patients. She is a general practitioner at the El Rodeo Comprehensive Health Center, located nearly three hours from Tegucigalpa, the capital of Honduras. There, she treats patients of all ages, many of whom live in poverty.
Chelsea Simms lives in Punta Gorda, a fishing village on the southern Caribbean coast of Belize. She is 25 years old and has just given birth to her second child. The first was delivered by cesarean section. The second almost took her life.
Health spending is a major concern in our region, for households and governments alike. Two recently published studies that were commissioned by the IDB examine how health spending may evolve in the near future, what drives these changes, and what can be done.