Colombia’s Ombudsman urges reform as healthcare crisis deepens

Colombia’s Ombudsman’s Office urged the Senate to consider the government’s proposal to reform the country’s public health system, which has been in crisis for decades.

In a letter the Senate, the Ombudsman’s Office stressed that “the current state of the system does not materialize the constitutional obligations to respect, protect and effectively guarantee the right to health.”

Data provided by the State human rights office showed that it received a record number of complaints in 2024.

Complaints received by Ombudsman’s Office

The letter came on the day that President Gustavo Petro, who has been promoting the healthcare reform since taking office in 2022, threatened to reform the healthcare system by decree if Congress fails.

In a televised minister’s council, Petro blamed the privatization of healthcare services and corruption within the system for recent shortages in life-saving medicines.

The House of Representatives approved Petro’s reform last year, but the Senate’s social policy commission could prevent a debate by the high chamber’s plenary.

The opposition-led commission triggered mass protests after it voted to shelve the government’s labor reform proposal earlier this month.

The vote additionally escalated tensions between Congress and Petro, who announced a popular vote on his reform proposals and urged the people to rebel against the legislative branch.

The privatization of Colombia’s healthcare system in 1993 has led to countless crises and the liquidation of more than a 100 private healthcare intermediaries that are supposed to finance and coordinate treatment.

The privatization of medicine provision in 2018 failed to curb recurring crises caused by medicine shortages in hospitals and pharmacies.

Petro’s reform seeks to remove the EPS’s role in the financing of treatment after numerous scandals’ caused by corruption and waste by the health intermediaries.

previous attempts to reform the system have been hampered by the EPS’s ongoing attempts to use healthcare funds to finance the campaigns of industry-friendly politicians.