A Brief Note On The American Health Care System Of Guatemala

Myrna Rodriguez WHO Scholarly Paper Dr. Uribe September 28, 2014 Guatemala Guatemala is located in Central America with an estimated population of 15 million in 2012 and it is considered a lower-middle-income country which a 48 percent of the total represents the indigenous population. According to Lao Pena (2013) after the 1996 Peace Accords the country made progress but poverty remains high; the 2008-09 economic crises caused an increase in overall poverty from 51 percent in 2006 to 53.7 percent in 2011. In Central America Guatemala has the biggest economy but has the highest levels of inequality with poverty indicators, especially in rural and indigenous areas (The World Bank, 2014). In Guatemala, 58% of the poor sector is from the†¦show more content†¦According to Ahmed, Awe, Barnes, Cropper and Kojima (2005) states that, â€Å"between 1997 to 2000 the Ministry of Public Health and Social Assistance estimated that ARI was the country’s single most important cause of morbidity and mortality which in this period of time the number of cas es of morbidity due to ARI grew by an average of 31 percent per year, an average of two to three time as many deaths as acute diarrhea, the second most important cause of mortality in Guatemala† (pg. 3). As noted by Ahmed et al., (2005), the main contributor to ARI’s is the indoor air pollution (IAP), approximately two-thirds of houses in Guatemala uses woods fires without chimneys for heating and cooking often in houses that has poor ventilation (pg. 28, 30). Ahmed et al., (2005) states that, â€Å"Children in these households are exposed to high levels of particulate matter† (pg. 30). Ahmed et al., (2005) mentioned that, â€Å"the main causes of death due to respiratory complications following fires is smoke inhalation which inhaling the smoke from combustion for a prolong time can lead to the effects of permanent lesions as bronchitis and cause infections such as pneumonia, where in the absence of proper care can lead to death† (pg. 11). In the study of Verani, McCracken, Arvelo, Estevez, Lopez, Reyes, Moir, Bernart, Moscoso, Gray, Olsen and Lindblade (2013), a total of 8,914 hospitalized patients A Brief Note On The American Health Care System Of Guatemala WHO Scholarly Paper Dr. Uribe September 28, 2014 Guatemala Guatemala is located in Central America with an estimated population of 15 million in 2012 and it is considered a lower-middle-income country which a 48 percent of the total represents the indigenous population. According to Lao Pena (2013), after the 1996 Peace Accords the country made progress but poverty remains high; the 2008-09 economic crises caused an increase in overall poverty from 51 percent in 2006 to 53.7 percent in 2011. In Central America Guatemala have the highest levels of inequality with poverty indicators, especially in rural and indigenous areas even though it has the biggest economy (The World Bank, 2014). In Guatemala, 58% of the poor sector is from the†¦show more content†¦Ahmed, Awe, Barnes, Cropper and Kojima (2005) states that, â€Å"between 1997 to 2000 the Ministry of Public Health and Social Assistance estimated that ARI was the country’s single most important cause of morbidity and mortality which in this period of time the number of cas es of morbidity due to ARI grew by an average of 31 percent per year, an average of two to three time as many deaths as acute diarrhea, the second most important cause of mortality in Guatemala† (pg. 3). As noted by Ahmed et al., (2005), â€Å"the main contributor to ARI’s is the indoor air pollution (IAP), approximately two-thirds of houses in Guatemala uses woods fires without chimneys for heating and cooking often in houses that has poor ventilation† (pg. 28, 30). Ahmed et al., (2005) states that, â€Å"Children in these households are exposed to high levels of particulate matter† (pg. 30). Ahmed et al., (2005) mentioned that, â€Å"the main causes of death due to respiratory complications following fires is smoke inhalation which inhaling the smoke from combustion for a prolong time can lead to the effects of permanent lesions as bronchitis and cause infections such as pneumonia, where in the absence of proper care can lead to death† (pg. 11). I n the study of Verani, McCracken, Arvelo, Estevez, Lopez, Reyes, Moir, Bernart, Moscoso, Gray, Olsen and Lindblade (2013) it states that, â€Å"a total of 8,914 hospitalized