Irene Torres: The indolence of the healthcare sector | Columnists | Opinion

It has now been three years since the COVID-19 pandemic began, and the Ecuadorian Ministry of Public Health (MSP) has learned very little. Its authorities will use the excuse that there are similar crises in other countries, but this is the consolation of fools. The reality is that this week the epidemiological surveillance area has not updated public data since November 12, and the graph that the minister has shown in Teleamazon it does not reflect what is happening.

In Machala and Quito, both the MSP and the IESS have set up tents for triage (rapid screening to make decisions about where to refer patients). The minister argued that it is normal for there to be so many cases of flu symptoms because it is flu season, but the vaccination campaign only started in November, when vaccination starts much earlier in the northern hemisphere. Official vaccination guidelines even require vaccination to begin in December, with no evidence that this is a good idea. Also, I imagine that to save resources only the priority population is vaccinated, even if this policy involves huge subsequent expenses.

What do MSP directors do? I know that the minister works, and a lot, but there are countless officials who have the audacity to go, in the midst of a crisis, for three or four hours in the possession of a rector of medicine, when only one representative would be enough. They travel to give presentations in other countries, I assume on paid leave, on projects or related to their previous work or to report available data in other organisations’ public reports. Faced with the request for regulations that regulate and promote health research in Ecuador, the National Director of Research responds with only two regulations for control and no policy for the promotion of knowledge.

Take a tour of the Ministry of Health and Social Protection of Colombia, our neighboring country. It has a luxury data center, a digital institutional repository with advanced search of all technical tools and programs and a Ten-Year Public Health Plan that makes the entire process transparent, from regulatory analysis and situational analysis in healthcare, through the basis of definitions, to clearly defined lines of work and cross-sectoral objectives.

The scarce information emerging from the MSP refers to the supply of medicines and the delivery of equipment to hospitals, a widespread strategy for the prevention of childhood chronic malnutrition. Where are the diagnoses and data to help make decisions? The freely removable official occupying management positions will continue to be our Sisyphus stone as long as they continue to rotate officials who have only temporary leave from their original employer and minimal experience in their specific work area or public sector. With no selection committee or formal interview involved, not even candidates know if they’re qualified for the position or if they’re genuinely interested in it. Even if the rules allow it, they should be the first to refrain from working in the Ministry of Public Health. (OR)