Latin America

We’re transforming Latin America’s healthcare systems

Movement Health (El Movimiento Salud 2030) was launched in Latin America in 2019 with the aim of transforming health systems to enable everyone to live their best, healthiest lives.
Find out more about Movement Health in Latin America…

Regional Aspirations

Access and continuity of care
To solve differences in access to care and meet growing demand, health policies and services should focus on patient outcomes and disease prevention.
Data science and digital solutions
Improving digital infrastructure and literacy could boost access to quality care in Latin American health systems and reduce costs for all.
Collaborative business and partnership models
Collaboration between diverse stakeholders could increase the impact of Latin American healthcare on society, improving quality of life for all.
Innovation in biosciences
With a diverse population and a wealth of highly skilled health professionals, Latin America could become a world leader in biotechnologies.

Our Story

Since the 1950s, Latin America has made great strides towards better healthcare, with life expectancy increasing across the continent. Despite enormous progress, the region still faces several healthcare challenges, including differences in access to quality healthcare.

Movement Health aspires to a future where all people have access to the healthcare they need to live longer and better lives. With the UN goal of reducing premature mortality by one third by 2030 in mind, Movement Health works on the ground in Latin America with patients, governments, health leaders and the private and third sectors to prepare health systems for the demands of the future, and supports them in adopting the necessary innovation to achieve better healthcare for all.

Igniting healthcare innovation through public-private partnerships, we help countries in Latin America to develop and scale cutting-edge, sustainable healthcare solutions that save lives, prevent disease and enhance healthcare equity and quality.

Latin America

In Latin America, Movement Health is working in collaboration with a broad range of stakeholders in Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Mexico, Peru and Uruguay to help create better healthcare for all.
Despite broad economic and cultural differences, there are many similar healthcare challenges across Latin America that could be addressed via cross-border collaboration, including access and continuity of care, digital infrastructure, data gathering and innovation in biosciences.

Argentina

In Argentina, 61% of the population has access to public healthcare and 13.6% has private coverage. However, the quality of care is often not good enough to prevent death or disability, with high costs for both the patient and the system. There are multiple risk factors, from lifestyle to comorbidities, making it difficult for the system to have adequate management. The challenge is to build interoperable, agile systems in Argentina, along with mature federal regulations for preserving patient confidentiality.

Brazil

Brazil’s constitutional right to healthcare encompasses primary, secondary and tertiary, but there are huge challenges in providing quality coverage to all its 214 million citizens. Brazil devoted only 10.5% of its public budget to health in 2019, well below the OECD average of 15.3%. Rates of obesity are on the rise, while harmful alcohol consumption has tripled to 17.1% in just six years. More preventative measures and better efficiencies are needed to address these and other lifestyle-related conditions, as well as the challenges of an ageing population.

Chile

Waiting times in Chile increased 365% during the COVID-19 pandemic. The national average is now 157.3 days, and among the patients most affected are those with lung cancer, with a total of 3,969 new cases diagnosed in 2020. This is exacerbated by a lack of unified and standardised prioritisation criteria and a fragmentation in decision-making across all levels of care. Absenteeism and lack of operational efficiency inside institutions also affects waiting times and leads to ineffective care.

Colombia

Cardiovascular diseases are the leading cause of death in Colombia. Three out of every 10 citizens also suffer from diabetes, while 1.6% of the population has been diagnosed with epilepsy. The challenge is to improve access to services, continuity of care, interconnection between healthcare providers and the collection of patient data, enabling the use of digital technologies and interoperability to increase citizen empowerment over its own health management.

Costa Rica

Costa Rica has an integrated health system (public-private) that ensures universal access. The promotion of healthy lifestyles and preventative measures is also an integral part of Costa Rican society. But despite the country's high health coverage (94.4%), the system is struggling to maintain its level of care due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and a growing and ageing population. Long waiting lists and delayed treatments are thus having a high impact on the quality of life.

Ecuador

Ecuador’s health system is seen as one of the most efficient globally in terms of life expectancy and relative and absolute health spending. Healthcare is covered by the public and private sectors, and a national health system provides free medical care to all residents, regardless of income. However, the country still struggles with shortages of staff, medicines and equipment, and healthcare coverage is much lower in rural areas. Low-income communities are also vulnerable to malnutrition, poor sanitation and weak preventative measures.

Mexico

According to the 2020 census, 70.9% of Mexicans are covered by public healthcare, with 2.3% of the population insured through the private sector. This leaves 32 million Mexicans (26.5%) with no access to any form of healthcare, a situation exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic. There is also a shortage of medical professionals, with just 1.95 doctors per 100,000 people. Infant mortality is the highest in the OECD, and the country also struggles with high rates of obesity (32.4%) and diabetes (15.9%).

Peru

In Peru, 64% of the population rely on public healthcare. However, there are many challenges when it comes to the efficiency of budget allocation and spending across governmental levels, along with a lack of human resources. This is especially acute at the regional level, which is responsible for 40% of public spending on health. This leads to inequities in access to and quality of care and, overall, lower healthcare coverage for the population.

Uruguay

Uruguay is one of the most advanced countries in terms of electronic medical records (EMRs), but there is still a need for more effective use of the data. The quality of information depends on health professionals, who have limited consultation time, while the quality of analyses depends on working with datasets from all organisations and, therefore, on interoperability agreements. So any data-driven decisions require new models based on the needs of patients.

Regional Policy

Latin American health systems could provide even more accessible and impactful care if policy, investment and innovation could reinforce each other better. For example, health databases and applications could be connected to make patient journeys more like customer journeys: seamless, easy to follow and intuitive. This would ultimately improve patient outcomes.
Movement Health 2030 aims to contribute to the creation of a long-term, strategic and holistic approach to transforming healthcare in Latin America, combining policy and innovation to ensure quality healthcare for generations to come.

Movement Health 2030 focuses on shifting policy in Latin America around three central topics:
1. Improving digital health infrastructures.
2. Increasing health and digital literacy among citizens and healthcare practitioners.
3. Making resource use as efficient as possible.
Latin America
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Argentina

In Argentina, 61% of the population has access to public healthcare and 13.6% has private coverage. However, the quality of care is often not good enough to prevent death or disability, with high costs for both the patient and the system. There are multiple risk factors, from lifestyle to comorbidities, making it difficult for the system to have adequate management. The challenge is to build interoperable, agile systems in Argentina, along with mature federal regulations for preserving patient confidentiality.

The risks are associated with multiple factors from lifestyle to comorbidities, making it hard for the system to have an adequate management.
This is 35% for men and 28% for women

Country partners

Latin America
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Brazil

Brazil’s constitutional right to healthcare encompasses primary, secondary and tertiary, but there are huge challenges in providing quality coverage to all its 214 million citizens. Brazil devoted only 10.5% of its public budget to health in 2019, well below the OECD average of 15.3%. Rates of obesity are on the rise, while harmful alcohol consumption has tripled to 17.1% in just six years. More preventative measures and better efficiencies are needed to address these and other lifestyle-related conditions, as well as the challenges of an ageing population.

Country partners

Latin America
Back to region

Chile

Waiting times in Chile increased 365% during the COVID-19 pandemic. The national average is now 157.3 days, and among the patients most affected are those with lung cancer, with a total of 3,969 new cases diagnosed in 2020. This is exacerbated by a lack of unified and standardised prioritisation criteria and a fragmentation in decision-making across all levels of care. Absenteeism and lack of operational efficiency inside institutions also affects waiting times and leads to ineffective care.

Reducing health waiting lists in Chile is a priority for the government, in order to attend more patients with better health service and on time.
Cases of lung cancer are on the rise, making it one of the most prevalent cancers in the country. Reducing the number of cases is a priority challenge.
The reduction in waiting lists is necessary to ensure a quality service is provided and that patients can receive treatments, medicines and interventions on time.

Country partners

Latin America
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Colombia

Cardiovascular diseases are the leading cause of death in Colombia. Three out of every 10 citizens also suffer from diabetes, while 1.6% of the population has been diagnosed with epilepsy. The challenge is to improve access to services, continuity of care, interconnection between healthcare providers and the collection of patient data, enabling the use of digital technologies and interoperability to increase citizen empowerment over its own health management.

As the primary cause of morbidity in Colombia, Movement Health 2030 decided that cardiovascular diseases should be a key focus when it comes to innovation challenges.
People with diabetes are generally unaware that they have the disease, which prevents them from being able to detect their condition in time. This makes it an important challenge for the Colombian health system.
There has been a constant and steady increase of people with epilepsy in the population over the last few years, which is why it’s seen as a priority.

Country partners

Latin America
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Costa Rica

Costa Rica has an integrated health system (public-private) that ensures universal access. The promotion of healthy lifestyles and preventative measures is also an integral part of Costa Rican society. But despite the country's high health coverage (94.4%), the system is struggling to maintain its level of care due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and a growing and ageing population. Long waiting lists and delayed treatments are thus having a high impact on the quality of life.

The execution of health spending must be efficient. This will make the health system sustainable and increase access to quality health care for the country's population.
The reduction in waiting lists is necessary to ensure a quality service is provided and that patients can receive treatments, medicines and interventions on time.

Country partners

Latin America
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Ecuador

Ecuador’s health system is seen as one of the most efficient globally in terms of life expectancy and relative and absolute health spending. Healthcare is covered by the public and private sectors, and a national health system provides free medical care to all residents, regardless of income. However, the country still struggles with shortages of staff, medicines and equipment, and healthcare coverage is much lower in rural areas. Low-income communities are also vulnerable to malnutrition, poor sanitation and weak preventative measures.

Country partners

Latin America
Back to region

Mexico

According to the 2020 census, 70.9% of Mexicans are covered by public healthcare, with 2.3% of the population insured through the private sector. This leaves 32 million Mexicans (26.5%) with no access to any form of healthcare, a situation exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic. There is also a shortage of medical professionals, with just 1.95 doctors per 100,000 people. Infant mortality is the highest in the OECD, and the country also struggles with high rates of obesity (32.4%) and diabetes (15.9%).

Country partners

Latin America
Back to region

Peru

In Peru, 64% of the population rely on public healthcare. However, there are many challenges when it comes to the efficiency of budget allocation and spending across governmental levels, along with a lack of human resources. This is especially acute at the regional level, which is responsible for 40% of public spending on health. This leads to inequities in access to and quality of care and, overall, lower healthcare coverage for the population.

It is essential that the health budget be fully executed to provide better service to a more significant number of patients. This would make the local health system even more sustainable.
Compared with the region and its neighbouring countries, the health budget executed in Peru is very low. This means that better execution is a greater priority than significant investment.
Anaemia in Peru is one of the most prevalent diseases in children, which is why it was considered for inclusion in the country's challenge.

Country partners

Latin America
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Uruguay

Uruguay is one of the most advanced countries in terms of electronic medical records (EMRs), but there is still a need for more effective use of the data. The quality of information depends on health professionals, who have limited consultation time, while the quality of analyses depends on working with datasets from all organisations and, therefore, on interoperability agreements. So any data-driven decisions require new models based on the needs of patients.

Country partners