Disparities In Rural Areas

While practically ever health indicator has improved in Peru in the past thirty years, these improvements have not been shared equally across the population. The majority of the progress has occurred in urban areas, especially in the capital city of Lima, with the rural population lagging behind. According to the Population Reference Bureau (2015), the amount of people living below the poverty line is 36% higher in rural areas than in urban areas. While poverty is definitely a causative factor in the disparities that exist, in this paper I will examine some of these inequalities and show that one cause of them is the geographical isolation of many rural communities. Geographic isolation contributes to many different factors that lead to the …show more content…
At the lowest level, the facilities are called “puestos” or “postas.” The lowest sublevels of these postas do not have doctors, only a nurse or other health care professional. These are the most common type of health care facility in rural areas. Going up the levels and sublevels the facilities get more advanced. The next sublevel is a posta with a doctor then a health center then a health center that can have in-patients. In level two, the hospitals get larger and have more advanced equipment and more employees. The highest sublevel of level 3 is the specialized hospitals, like cancer or heart centers, and these are almost exclusively concentrated in Lima. A referral system is in place to move people up to higher-level facilities when needed. While this system is practical in that it allows minor issues to be resolved without using the resources of higher-level facilities, it is impractical for many people, especially those in the rural regions. When referred to higher-level facilities, rural people are often unable to go due to financial barriers, like the cost of travel and the inability to leave their work and families …show more content…
The Andes region and the Amazon region are especially isolated due to the difficult terrain that surrounds many communities. The average travel time in rural areas to the closest health care establishment is 41 minutes which is an issue since the ideal travel time is 30 minutes or less (APOYO Consultoría, 2012). The issue with travel time isn’t just in mileage or linear distance but in the difficulty of the terrain and the quality of the infrastructure that exists to allow for travel, which is often poor. 10% of people in the Sierra (Andes) region say that they do not get medical care because the closest health care facility is too far away (APOYO Consultoría, 2012). However, while it can help the situation, the existence of health facilities also doesn’t solve the