The Ministry of Health is committed to promoting the registration of people of different sexual orientations in the Unified Health System (SUS) to improve access to health care for this population.
“Although the procedure is not complex, the Ministry of Health and Sports is tasked with simplifying it and removing barriers that prevent the beneficiary population from accessing public assistance,” said Max Enríquez, Undersecretary for Advocacy and Epidemic Surveillance, according to Friday, the agency reported.
This commitment comes after learning from the Office of the Ombudsman of “Bolivia’s first virtual survey of people with different sexual orientations, identities and gender expressions,” which revealed that 33% of the population surveyed do not have access to health services.
“This data is very useful for designing policies that make access more accessible, because the conditions are already in place, but small details prevent large numbers of people of different sexual orientations from receiving the benefits of SUS,” the Deputy Minister said.
The Ministry of Health and Sports pledged to improve access to SUS for people of different sexual orientations, “an important step in Bolivia’s quest for more inclusive and equitable health care.”
The investigation, conducted between 2021 and 2022, involved 4,054 records in nine departments across the country, according to the Ombudsman’s Office.
Among the questions asked in various places, people were asked about their health status and it was found that 43% of people had health problems.
Of this group, 58% said a mental illness or disorder, such as depression or anxiety, was their main health concern.
In second place were communicable diseases such as tuberculosis, viral hepatitis and sexually transmitted diseases, which accounted for 23% of records.
Sixteen percent of the records involved diagnoses related to chronic conditions, such as asthma, chronic bronchitis, or emphysema. /Abi