Ada, an 83-year-old Argentine woman, had to wait six months to get an appointment to undergo surgery for a worsened heart obstruction. due to severe anemia due to lack of supplies and endless procedures that could have cost him his life.
Cases like Ada’s are repeated in the midst of the profound spending adjustment promoted by the ultraliberal president Javier Milei after taking office in December to deal with the severe economic crisis that Argentina is going through, with inflation of 209% year-on-year.
Thanks to her children and the doctor from a public hospital who helped her speed up the process that began in April, she managed to have surgery in October.although you still have to deal with a delay of more than three months to carry out checks that you should do monthly.
“They were difficult months, we are going through still difficult situations because everything is time andI think that with the heart we don’t have (time), and even more so adults, who need treatment now,” Bibiana Brnjac, Ada’s daughter, who was convalescing after the operation, told Reuters.
Cardiologists denounced a “perfect storm” in the sector, affected by salaries hit by high inflation, lack of supplies that often must be reused, rising health costs and attrition of professionals. combination that threatens to increase mortality from heart conditions, the leading cause of death in the country.
In public hospitals, the demand for care has increased in recent months at the rate of growth in poverty, which currently affects 52.9% of the population. which has saturated waiting rooms while suffering budget cuts and higher costs due to increases in public service rates.
Pablo Stutzbach, president-elect of the Argentine Society of Cardiology (SAC), said that the current situation is worse than that of the serious economic crisis of 2001. due to a health financing problem derived from increased costs and the exodus of trained doctors due to low salaries.
“Investment (in health) is very bad, mixing public, social security and private”said Stutzbach, who denounced poor administration and inequity in access.
Last August, a group of specialists went on a 48-hour strike in which they stopped placing stents. and to perform angioplasties throughout the country to denounce low salaries and the lack of supplies, attending only to emergencies.
“Many very well-trained doctors have left, but in addition, today’s doctors are not willing to sacrifice themselves and take a 10 or 12 year journey.” to not have a life project and develop economically“Stitzbach said.
At the Hospital de Clínicas, a teaching hospital that depends on the University of Buenos Aires and serves about 1,000 people per daycardiologists struggled to maintain quality of care, but they warned that their low-income patients often cannot afford the treatments.
“It is noticeable that the hospital has a greater demand. One tries to maintain the quality of care, maintain the level of recommendation of the evidence that supports the treatment indicated and that Then it cannot be translated into reality because the patient cannot sustain it.”said Enrique Stazzone, cardiologist at the prestigious medical center.
According to a recent SAC study, cardiologists in Argentina suffer a level of “burnout” close to 80% compared to 30% of their peers in the United States due to the stress of the crisis.
“We don’t know how much longer we resist. It is a complicated question to answer because the counterpart “It is not resisting and realizing that if one does not resist, it is people’s lives,” Stazzone concluded.
