Fortalecimiento de la capacidad del sector salud en Colombia y el acceso de las y los migrantes a los servicios de salud en contexto COVID-19

In addition to factors such as the ageing population, chronic diseases and high-cost treatments, specific factors to Colombia's General System of Social Security threaten its financial stability. These factors range from limited funding in a context of increasing demand for new affiliates and expensive technology, to a fragmented service model with deficiencies in primary care services, health promotion and disease prevention programming; and the recent waves of Venezuelan migrants without health insurance, who receive expensive emergency medical care.

In response to these challenges, the EU mobilised resources through the LAIF, IDB and AECID (totalling 152.112.000 EUR) to support the Government of Colombia in improving the country’s institutional capacities in health planning and management at the territorial level. The project will further serve to better the health outcomes of migrants and host communities by increasing the coverage of affiliation to the SGSSS and improving the country’s institutional capacities in health planning and management at the territorial level. It will also aim at improving the provision of basic health services for vulnerable irregular migrants, with an emphasis on women and their sexual and reproductive rights.

More specifically, the project will:

• improve the management expenditure on health services and technologies not financed by the Capitation Payment Unit;
• increase the efficiency and coverage of the Social Security;
• improve health coverage for the migrant population and host communities, with special emphasis on women's sexual and reproductive rights and gender-based violence.

This will be achieved through the following components:

• Migrant population gets access to the General System of Social Security in Health SGSSS;
• Technical Assistance and knowledge transfer resulting in strengthened capacities of institutional and community actors;
• Individual health care for the undocumented migrant population.