Usaid/Bolivia: Health Strategy Portfolio Review Fy2005-Fy2009

Total Page:16

File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb

Usaid/Bolivia: Health Strategy Portfolio Review Fy2005-Fy2009 USAID/BOLIVIA: HEALTH STRATEGY PORTFOLIO REVIEW FY2005-FY2009 December 2010 This publication was produced for review by the United States Agency for International Development. It was prepared by Deborah Caro through the Global Health Technical Assistance Project. USAID/BOLIVIA: HEALTH STRATEGY PORTFOLIO REVIEW FY2005-FY2009 DISCLAIMER The authors‘ views expressed in this publication do not necessarily reflect the views of the United States Agency for International Development or the United States Government. This document (Report No. 10-1-161) is available in printed or online versions. Online documents can be located in the GH Tech web site library at www.ghtechproject.com/resources. Documents are also made available through the Development Experience Clearing House (www.dec.org). Additional information can be obtained from: The Global Health Technical Assistance Project 1250 Eye St., NW, Suite 1100 Washington, DC 20005 Tel: (202) 521-1900 Fax: (202) 521-1901 [email protected] This document was submitted by The QED Group, LLC, with CAMRIS International and Social & Scientific Systems, Inc., to the United States Agency for International Development under USAID Contract No. GHS-I-00-05-00005-00. 4 USAID/BOLIVIA: HEALTH STRATEGY PORTFOLIO REVIEW FY05-09 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS The Team would like to express their deep gratitude and appreciation to all of the USAID partner organizations that helped us to understand the intricacies of the program and all the changes it went through during its tenure. We also owe an enormous debt to the healthcare workers, community members, and the municipal and community leaders who answered our questions tirelessly and helped us to understand the new political and health context in Bolivia. The USAID Health Team was an enormous help during the entire process of producing the portfolio review and strategy. We also are extremely grateful to the Ministry of Health and SEDES officials who received us openly and worked with us to understand the program, the history of events, and the intricacies of the new policies. We were extremely grateful for the full collaboration we received at all levels. Special thanks goes to Alicia Dinerstein for guiding the process, envisioning why and how it should be done, and persevering through multiple drafts. Our great desire is that all Bolivians will vivir bien as a result of realizing their rights to access high quality culturally and gender sensitive healthcare. USAID/BOLIVIA: HEALTH STRATEGY PORTFOLIO REVIEW FY05-09 i CONTENTS ACRONYMS ...................................................................................................................................................................... iv EXECUTIVE SUMMARY ................................................................................................................................................ vii Structure of the Report .................................................................................................................................................. vii Methodology ..................................................................................................................................................................... vii Overview of the Strategy .............................................................................................................................................. viii Findings ................................................................................................................................................................................ x BACKGROUND AND CONTEXT .............................................................................................................................. 1 Objectives of the Portfolio Review ................................................................................................................................ 1 Structure of the Report .................................................................................................................................................... 2 THE USAID HEALTH STRATEGY ................................................................................................................................ 4 Major Bolivian Health Policies Supported by USAID Activities ............................................................................... 6 The Portfolio and Key Implementing Partners ............................................................................................................ 7 The Rural Health Strategy and Its Implementing Organizations .............................................................................. 7 Rural Strategy Activities and Implementing Partners 2004-2009 ............................................................................ 9 Other Strategic Activities and Implementing Partners ............................................................................................ 13 Other Strategic Health Activities and Implementing 2005-2009 ........................................................................... 14 ASSESSMENT BY INTERMEDIATE RESULT (IR) ..................................................................................................... 16 IR 1: Increased Ability of Individuals, Families and Communities to Take Action to Improve Health .......... 16 IR 1.1- Improve Health Practive by Promoting Healthy Practices ........................................................................ 19 IR 1.2- Increase Access to Products that Promote Health and Help to Prevent Illness .................................. 24 IR 1.3- Increase the Capacity of Communities to Develop Effective Organizations to Support Local Health Services .............................................................................................................................................................................. 26 IR 2: Expanded Delivery Of Quality, High-Impact Health Services Through Health Networks .................... 35 IR 2.1- Improve the Provision of Clinical Services .................................................................................................... 38 IR 2.2- Improve the Provision of Community Health Services .............................................................................. 40 IR 2.3- Improve the Quality of Health Services According to National Norms, Protocols, and User Satisfaction......................................................................................................................................................................... 42 Summary of IR2 Findings ................................................................................................................................................ 46 IR 3: Strengthened Institutional Capacity for Health Care Management and Sustainability ............................ 47 IR 3.1- Increase the Capacity of the Public and Private Health Services for Results-Based Management in Select Municipalities……………………..…...............................................................................................................50 IR 3.2- Increase the Financial Sustainability of Public and Private Health Services ........................... ………...54 Summary of IR 3 Findings ............................................................................................................................................... 55 PROGRAM ANALYSIS: ACHIEVEMENT OF THE STRATEGIC OBJECTIVE ................................................... 57 LESSONS LEARNED AND RECOMMENDATIONS FOR NEXT STRATEGY ................................................ 60 ii USAID/BOLIVIA: HEALTH STRATEGY PORTFOLIO REVIEW FY05-09 APPENDICES APPENDIX A. SCOPE OF WORK .................................................................................................... 62 APPENDIX B. PERSONS CONTACTED ......................................................................................... 77 APPENDIX C. LEVELS AND FUNCTIONS OF THE BOLIVIAN HEALTH SYSTEM…….. 87 APPENDIX D. USAID ACTIVITIES FOR HEALTH STRATEGY 2005-2010 ............................. 91 APPENDIX E. IMPLEMENTATION TIMELINE OF RURAL STRATEGY .................................. 98 APPENDIX F. REFERENCES ............................................................................................................... 99 USAID/BOLIVIA: HEALTH STRATEGY PORTFOLIO REVIEW FY05-09 iii ACRONYMS ACS Agente Comunitario de Salud/ Community Health Agent AIEPI (IMCI) Atención Integral a las Enfermedades Prevalentes de la Infancia/Integrated Management of Childhood Illness ALS Autoridad Local de Salud/Local Health Authority AO Activity Objective (formerly SO, or Strategic Objective) CAI Comités de Análisis de Información/Information Analysis Committees CARE Cooperative for Assistance andRelief Everywhere CDC Centers for Disease Control and Prevention CDVIR Centros Departamentales de Vigilancia y Referencia de ITS/SIDA/Departmental Centers for Surveillance and Referral of HIV/AIDS and STIs CEASS Central de Almacenamiento de Suministros de Salud/ Central Depository for Health Supplies CHP Proyecto de Salud Comunitario (de PROCOSI)/Community Health Project (CHP) CLS Comité Local de Salud/Local Health Committee CSP Country Strategic Plan CSRA Consejo de Salud Rural Andino DAIA Disponibilidad Asegurada de Insumos Anticonceptivos/Contraceptive Security DILOS Directorio Local de Salud/Local Health Directorate DIU Dispositivo intrauterino/Intrauterine Device (IUD) EAPC Estrategia de Acción Participativa Comunitaria/Strategy for Particatory
Recommended publications
  • Indigenous Health and Child Mortality in Rural Bolivia Natasha Wynne Lewry Beauvais
    University of Connecticut OpenCommons@UConn UCHC Graduate School Masters Theses 2003 - University of Connecticut Health Center Graduate 2010 School June 2000 Conceiving the Cultural Concept : Indigenous Health and Child Mortality in Rural Bolivia Natasha Wynne Lewry Beauvais Follow this and additional works at: https://opencommons.uconn.edu/uchcgs_masters Recommended Citation Beauvais, Natasha Wynne Lewry, "Conceiving the Cultural Concept : Indigenous Health and Child Mortality in Rural Bolivia" (2000). UCHC Graduate School Masters Theses 2003 - 2010. 9. https://opencommons.uconn.edu/uchcgs_masters/9 CONCEIVING THE CULTURAL CONCEPT FNDIGENOUS HEALTH AND CHILD MORTALITY IN RURAL BOLIVIA Natasha Wynne Lewry Beauvais B,A., Yale University, 1993 A Thesis Submitted in Partial Fulfillment ofthe Requirements for the Degree of Master of Public Health at the University of Connecticut 2O0O APPROVAL PAGE Master of Public Health Thesis CONCEIVING THE CULTURAL CONCEPT INDIGENOUS HEALTH AND CHILD MORTALITY IN RURAL BOLIVIA Presented by Natasha Wynne Lewry Beauvais, B.A. Major Advisor: . Judy/Lewis Associate Advisor: .ansen Associate Advisor: University of Connecticut 2000 Acknowledgments: Thav5 you to my advisor, Judy Lewis, for her shared love ofuncovering all corners ofthe world, and her tremendous flexibility. Muchisimas gracias to the generous, accommodating staffat the Carabuco and La Paz ofces ofthe Consejo de Salud Rural Andino who invited us into their lives, their food, and their humor. Gratitude to my lusband, Joel, who spent late hours in the near-freezing office collecting data after hours, just weeks after we were married. Mountains of respect for the 20,000 foot peak of H-uyana Potosi and to the six-day trail around Illampu, and to Roberto Choque, an Aymaran farmer, who guided us there.
    [Show full text]
  • Inequalities in Child Health in Bolivia : Has Morales Made a Difference
    Inequalities in Child Health in Bolivia : Has Morales Made a Difference The election of Evo Morales in Bolivia signaled a fundamental shift in the political representation of indigenous people in Latin America. One of the most serious challenges facing Bolivia is poor child health and large inequalities in child health. Many of the people who supported Morales are those whose children experience the greatest health inequities. In Bolivia, six percent of children under age five are underweight, compared to four percent in all of South America (Population Reference Bureau, 2007). In addition, the infant mortality rate in Bolivia is 50 deaths per 1,000 live births – more than double the average for South America as a whole (Population Reference Bureau, 2009). These rates, however, are not uniform throughout Bolivia. Child nutritional status and infant mortality vary by urban/rural residence, region, and socioeconomic status. As president of Bolivia, Evo Morales has followed a socialist plan to improve the health of women and children. The Morales government announced important initiatives to improve public health. The purpose of this paper is to assess changes in children’s health following the election of Morales. Background To understand the health of Bolivia’s population requires one grasp the contours of the continuities, as well as the radical political changes the country has undergone over the last decades in the context of international covenants and increasingly important international agencies. When the period of import substitution political economies and dictatorship ended in the early eighties, Bolivia had a stratified, strongly unequal society divided among a privileged urban, Spanish speaking segment, a much less privileged and rapidly growing sector of rural migrants from the Aymara and Quechua speaking countryside, and a underprivileged rural-- primarily indigenous--majority.
    [Show full text]
  • Evaluation of Fiscal Space for Health in Bolivia* 07 08
    01 Pan American Journal Original research of Public Health 02 03 04 05 06 Evaluation of fiscal space for health in Bolivia* 07 08 1 2 3 4 09 Mauricio Matus-López, Desiderio Cansino Pozo, Camilo Cid Pedraza, Werner Valdés Romero 10 11 12 13 Suggested citation (original article) Matus-López M, Cansino Pozo D, Cid Pedraza C, Valdés Romero W. Evaluación del espacio fiscal para 14 salud en Bolivia. Rev Panam Salud Publica. 2018;42:e4. https://doi.org/10.26633/RPSP.2018.4 15 16 17 18 ABSTRACT Objective. To assess, from a technical and political standpoint, the capacity of Bolivia to generate fiscal space for health that allows the country to sustain progress and fulfill the commitment of a public expenditure in health 19 of 6% of gross domestic product. 20 Methods. A review was conducted of the international evidence on fiscal space and how it is measured. The 21 technical analysis was developed through statistics and official reports from multiple national and international 22 secondary sources. The political and social analysis was carried out through 20 interviews with representatives 23 of organizations and institutions. 24 Results. There is capacity to create fiscal space in health for Bolivia. The three sources with the greatest tech- 25 nical and political feasibility are: economic growth linked to a commitment to reprioritize public spending on 26 health; improvements in the internal sources of revenue through the reduction of informal work; and reduction 27 of tax expenditures. External financing and an increase of Social Security contributions are less feasible. 28 Conclusions.
    [Show full text]
  • A Plurinational State: the Impact of the Mas on the Status of Indigenous People in Bolivia
    University of Central Florida STARS Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2004-2019 2010 A Plurinational State: The Impact Of The Mas On The Status Of Indigenous People In Bolivia Pamela Medina University of Central Florida Part of the Political Science Commons Find similar works at: https://stars.library.ucf.edu/etd University of Central Florida Libraries http://library.ucf.edu This Masters Thesis (Open Access) is brought to you for free and open access by STARS. It has been accepted for inclusion in Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2004-2019 by an authorized administrator of STARS. For more information, please contact [email protected]. STARS Citation Medina, Pamela, "A Plurinational State: The Impact Of The Mas On The Status Of Indigenous People In Bolivia" (2010). Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2004-2019. 4426. https://stars.library.ucf.edu/etd/4426 A PLURINATIONAL STATE: THE IMPACT OF THE MAS ON THE STATUS OF INDIGENOUS PEOPLE IN BOLIVIA by: PAMELA SILVANNA MEDINA B.A. Florida Atlantic University, 2008 A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts in the Department of Political Science in the College of Sciences at the University of Central Florida Orlando, Florida Summer Term 2010 © 2010 Pamela S. Medina ii ABSTRACT In 2005 the largely indigenous country of Bolivia elected its first indigenous president, Evo Morales of the Movement toward Socialism (MAS) Party. Morales ran on a promise of re- distributing wealth, to aid in the development of one of Latin America‟s poorest countries. Morales‟ first term in office marked a historical achievement for the indigenous movement in Bolivia, and sparked social change in the country.
    [Show full text]
  • Resource Mobilization for the Health Sector in Bolivia
    Resource Mobilization for the Health Sector in Bolivia Marina Cárdenas Robles Jorge A. Muñoz UDAPSO Bolivia and Mukesh Chawla Harvard School of Public Health July 1996 Data for Decision Making Project i Table of Contents Executive Summary.............................................................................................1 1. Introduction ..................................................................................................6 2. Overview ......................................................................................................8 3. The Health Status of Bolivia's Population ........................................................ 11 4. The Health Sector ........................................................................................ 14 Background .................................................................................................. 14 5. Health Care Spending in Bolivia ..................................................................... 20 6. Financing Health Services in Bolivia ................................................................ 23 7. Central Government and Municipal Tax Revenues ............................................ 25 8. Social Insurance and Public Health Funds ........................................................ 31 9. Private Health Insurance and Pre-Paid Medicine Programs ................................. 35 10. User Charges ............................................................................................. 37 11. International Cooperation ...........................................................................
    [Show full text]
  • Perceptions of Maternal Health Care Among Haitian Women in the Dominican Republic: Do Race and Ethnicity Matter?
    PERCEPTIONS OF MATERNAL HEALTH CARE AMONG HAITIAN WOMEN IN THE DOMINICAN REPUBLIC: DO RACE AND ETHNICITY MATTER? By ERICA ANN FELKER-KANTOR A THESIS PRESENTED TO THE GRADUATE SCHOOL OF THE UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF MASTER OF ARTS UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA 2011 1 © 2011 Erica Ann Felker-Kantor 2 To the Haitian and Dominican women of Elias Piña Thank you for allowing me into your lives 3 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I am especially grateful to my thesis chair, Dr. Charles Wood. The quality of my work and depth of analysis are due to his invaluable feedback, support, and encouragement. I am indebted to him for seeing the potential of my research and for pushing me to become a better writer and critical thinker. I am also thankful to my other committee members, Dr. Alyson Young and Dr. Lance Gravlee, for exposing me to the world of medical anthropology. Their dedication to social medicine and knowledge about the social determinants of health has influenced my decision to continue my education in the field of public health. I also thank Dr. Richmond Brown and Dr. Phil Williams for their advisory support, and Dr. Benjamin Hebblethwaite for teaching me Haitian Creole and showing me the beauty of Haitian culture. Thanks to Rosario Espiñal for introducing me to Sergia Galvan. Without Sergia’s support and guidance this project would not have been possible. To the Haitian and Dominican women of Elias Piña and the staff of La Colectiva, I thank you for welcoming me into your lives.
    [Show full text]
  • Latin America and the Caribbean
    Bolivia Women oftheWorld: Laws and Policies Affecting Their Reproductive Lives Latin America and the Caribbean The Center for Reproductive Law and Policy DEMUS, Estudio para la Defensa de los Derechos de la Mujer In collaboration with partners in Argentina Bolivia Brazil Colombia El Salvador Guatemala Jamaica México Perú PAGE 34 BOLIVIA WOMEN OF THE WORLD: Bolivia Statistics GENERAL Population I Bolivia has a total population of 8 million, of which 50.4% are women.1 The growth rate is approximately 2.3% per year.2 41% of the population is under 15 years old and 4% is over 65.3 I In 1995, 54% of the population lived in urban areas and 46% in rural areas.4 Te r r i t o r y I Bolivia has a surface area of 1,098,581 square kilometers.5 Economy I In 1994, the World Bank estimated the gross national product per capita in Bolivia at U.S.$770.6 I From 1990 to 1994, the gross domestic product grew at an estimated rate of 3.8%.7 I In 1992, the Bolivian government spent U.S.$97 million on health.8 Employment I In 1994, approximately 3 million people were employed in Bolivia, of which 37% were women.9 WOMEN’S STATUS I The average life expectancy for women is 63 years, compared with 57 years for men.10 I The illiteracy rate for women is 24%, while it is only 10% for men.11 I For the period from 1991 to 1992, women represented 7.8% of the total unemployed compared with 6.9% for men.12 I In 1994, women represented 37% of the economically active population.13 In the period from 1989 to 1990, women represented 8.6% of the unemployed in urban areas.14 I Of the cases of violence against women in Bolivia, 76.3% were acts of physical violence, 12.2% were rapes, 6.4% were attempted murders, and 3.3% were attempted rapes.
    [Show full text]
  • Mortality Survey in Bolivia: the Final Report
    Mortality Survey in Bolivia: The Final Report Investigating and Identifying the Causes of Death for Children Under Five Ana Maria Aguilar Ruth Alvarado Dilberth Cordero Patrick Kelly Adalid Zamora René Salgado BASICS BASICS is a global child survival support project funded by the Office of Health and Nutrition of the Bureau for Global Programs, Field Support, and Research of the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID). The agency’s Child Survival Division provides technical guidance and assists in strategy development and program implementation in child survival, including interventions aimed at child morbidity and infant and child nutrition. BASICS is conducted by the Partnership for Child Health Care, Inc. (contract no. HRN-C-00-93-00031-00, formerly HRN-6006-C-00-3031-00). Partners are the Academy for Educational Development, John Snow, Inc., and Management Sciences for Health. Subcontractors are the Office of International Programs of Clark Atlanta University, Emory University, the Johns Hopkins University’s School of Hygiene and Public Health, Porter/Novelli, and Program for Appropriate Technology in Health. This document does not necessarily represent the views or opinions of USAID. It may be reproduced if credit is given to BASICS. Recommended Citation Aguilar, Ana Maria, Ruth Alvarado, Dilberth Cordero, Patrick Kelly, Adalid Zamora, and René Salgado. 1998. Mortality Survey in Bolivia: The Final Report. Investigating and Identifying the Causes of Death for Children Under Five. Published for the USAID by the Basic Support for Institutionalizing Child Survival (BASICS) Project. Arlington, Va. Abstract BASICS-Bolivia and the MOH-Bolivia conducted a study of mortality in children under 5 years of age in El Alto, Bolivia, from December 1994 through August 1995.
    [Show full text]
  • A Thesis Entitled Experiences of Bolivian Disabled Activist Women
    A Thesis entitled Experiences of Bolivian Disabled Activist Women by Iblin Edelweiss Murillo Lafuente Submitted to the Graduate Faculty as partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Master of Arts Degree in Sociology ___________________________________________ Dr. Karie Peralta, Committee Chair ___________________________________________ Dr. Ally Day, Committee Member ___________________________________________ Dr. Shahna Arps, Committee Member ___________________________________________ Dr. Amanda C. Bryant-Friedrich, Dean College of Graduate Studies The University of Toledo May 2020 © 2020, Iblin Edelweiss Murillo Lafuente This document is copyrighted material. Under copyright law, no parts of this document may be reproduced without the expressed permission of the author. An Abstract of Experiences of Bolivian Disabled Women by Iblin Edelweiss Murillo Lafuente Submitted to the Graduate Faculty as partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Master of arts Degree in Sociology The University of Toledo May 2020 Women who experience disability in Bolivia have been largely ignored within the Disability studies and Feminist scholarship. The daily situations that these women face are not documented, which contributes to their oppression, invisibility and lack of public policies that address their issues. This thesis presents global south experiences of disabled Bolivian women and describes how their active involvement as disability activists shape their identity, their social and political engagement and how they navigate social institutions.
    [Show full text]
  • Health Equity Report 2016
    Health Equity Report 2016 Analysis of reproductive, maternal, newborn, child and adolescent health inequities in Latin America and the Caribbean to inform policymaking © United Nations Children’s Fund, UNICEF Health Equity Report 2016: Analysis of reproductive, maternal, newborn, child and adolescent health inequities in Latin America and the Caribbean to inform policymaking November 2016 Panama City, Panama Cover photo: © UNICEF/UNI100388/LeMoyne UNICEF Latin America and Caribbean Regional Office Alberto Tejada street, Building 102, City of Knowledge Panama, Republic of Panama P.O. Box 0843-03045 Phone: (507) 301-7400 www.unicef.org/lac Twitter: https://twitter.com/uniceflac Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/UnicefLac ISBN: 978-92-806-4842-3 This joint report reflects the activities of individual agencies around an issue of common concern. The principles and policies of each agency are governed by the relevant decisions of its governing body. Each agency implements the interventions described in this document in accordance with these principles and policies and within the scope of its mandate. This publication may be reproduced for use in research, advocacy and education only, provided the source is acknowledged (UNICEF). This publication may not be reproduced for other purposes without the prior written permission of UNICEF. Permissions will be requested to Communication Unit, [email protected]. Health Equity Report 2016 Analysis of reproductive, maternal, newborn, child and adolescent health inequities in Latin America and the Caribbean to inform policymaking Acknowledgement This report was prepared jointly by a team from Tulane University and UNICEF, with inputs from members of the A Promise Renewed for the Americas (APR-LAC) Metrics and Monitoring Working Group.
    [Show full text]
  • The National Development Plan As A
    The National Development Plan as a Political Economic Strategy in Evo Morales’s Bolivia Accomplishments and Limitations by Clayton Mendonça Cunha Filho and Rodrigo Santaella Gonçalves Translated by Ariane Dalla Déa Bolivia’s National Development Plan is the most detailed official document on the objectives of Evo Morales’s administration and therefore an important reference point for the evaluation of the intentions, difficulties, and approaches of his political project. Analysis of the plan reveals bold objectives such as transforming the nation’s structure of development and making the country the energy center of the continent and more modest goals of reducing poverty and social inequality. The greatest advance in the first four years of the Morales administration is regaining state control of the economy; Bolivia has effectively changed its economic model from a predominantly free-market one to a mixed model in which state management of the basic sectors of the economy predominates. Changing the structure of development has taken second place to these changes, but the government has acted to promote the needed diversification by encour- aging environmental protection, guaranteeing workers’ rights, and providing improved access to credit. The implementation of some of the plan’s main features has been delayed by political opposition from the eastern part of the country, but with a congressional majority for Morales’s party in his second term further advances can be predicted. Given the plan’s limitations and moderation and the problems in its implementation, it is sig- nificant that Bolivia has witnessed an impressive increase in the gross domestic product and a decrease in income inequality.
    [Show full text]
  • Community Health in Bolivia: Global Links in Action
    VOLUME XX NO. 2 FALL 2012 Community Health in Bolivia: Global Links in Action The baby, a premature newborn, was in respiratory failure. The ventilator at Hospital Daniel Bracamonte, in the department of Potosí, Bolivia, was broken, and the tiny child was being kept alive with an ambu – a manual ventilation device – from Global Links. “This is one of the most important things you have sent us,” hospital director Dr. Luis Quispe told Global Links that day, holding one of the ambus up to make his point. He was unaware that as he was speaking, an ambu was keeping a newborn alive. This is a perfect example of Global Links in action. In the United States, hospitals routinely discard clean, unused ambus. In Photo by Lynn Johson for Global Links many hospitals in Latin America and the Staff at Hospital Daniel Bracamonte use an ambu from Global Links to help a newborn breathe. Caribbean, electric ventilators are scarce, and electricity is unreliable. Ambus are essential life-saving supplies, and Global Links includes them in almost every project. Global Links has been working in Bolivia since 2000. While Bolivia is rich in natural resources and indigenous traditions, it is one of the poorest countries in South America. The indigenous communities, traditionally underserved, have lately been receiving more government support since the new constitution was approved in a referendum in 2009. By directing resources to vulnerable populations, infant and maternal mortality rates are falling, and the number of attended births is approaching the target set by the United Nations Millennium Development Goals.
    [Show full text]