Panama

COUNTRY BACKGROUND

Panama has seen steady economic growth and increasing democratization since deposing dictator Manuel Noriega in 1989. However, challenges associated with land redistribution have led to increased socioeconomic disparities and maintained pockets of poverty throughout the country. The World Bank estimates that 18% of the population lives on $2 or less per day.

The Panamanian government invests a significant amount in health care — 8.4% of the gross domestic product — with the Ministry of Health and the Social Security Fund covering 73% of the population. Those who fall through the gaps in public health care coverage are primarily people living in urban slums and indigenous groups in rural areas, according to the World Health Organization.

Socioeconomic indicators demonstrate that rural indigenous groups make up half of Panama’s poor-to-extremely poor population. As poverty and health are inextricably linked, this group also has the greatest health concerns

There is a prevalence of communicable diseases and season-related illnesses in the country, and doctors are also finding a rise in chronic conditions such as cardiovascular disease and diabetes.

GLOBAL MEDICAL ASSISTANCE PROGRAM

Medical Outreach Teams Reach Underserved Rural Populations in Panama
AmeriCares has been working with the Panamanian Association of the Order of Malta for more than 20 years. Since 1986, our Global Medical Assistance and Emergency Response programs have delivered more than $72 million in medical and humanitarian aid to the Order of Malta in Panama.

Today, in a partnership with the Order of Malta and the University of Panama’s medical school, AmeriCares donated medicines and supplies reach rural areas that are isolated due to their remote locations and poor infrastructure. AmeriCares and the Order of Malta supply the medical outreach missions organized by the university’s medical school and local non-governmental organizations, and the teams provide primary care to the indigenous groups that largely populate the country’s remote areas. During the rainy season, a village that once had a road might be accessible only by boat, but through this partnership, community members receive consultations and treatments in general medicine, optometry, pediatrics, nutrition and dentistry.

The medical brigades are just one group serving Panama’s vulnerable populations with AmeriCares assistance. Through the Order of Malta, AmeriCares donated medicines and medical supplies also reach a broad network of hospitals, clinics and pediatric nutrition programs in both urban and rural impoverished centers.